Glasgow Rangers boss Philippe Clement and head of recruitment Nils Koppen look set for a busy summer of business in the upcoming transfer window.
They have already moved to sign Brazilian left-back Jefte from Fluminense on a permanent deal to bolster their defensive options, and are also closing in on a deal to sign centre-back Jose Cordoba from Levski Sofia.
The Panama international is poised to put pen to paper on a permanent move to Ibrox this week and Clement has also decided to retain veteran defender Leon Balogun, who has signed a one-year contract extension.
This means that Rangers are set to have one more centre-back in their squad next season, with Connor Goldson, John Souttar, and Ben Davies already on the books.
With this in mind, the Belgian head coach must brutally bin young defender Leon King from the squad as he would likely be sent further down the pecking order.
Why Leon King should be ditched this summer
The Daily Record reported ahead of the January window that Clement was prepared to send him out on loan for the second half of the season, as he could not guarantee the youngster game time.
A move did not materialise for the Scotland youth international, though, and he went on to play just three games in all competitions after the turn of the year, two of which came as a starter.
Connor Goldson
30
2,696
7.02
John Souttar
28
2,253
7.07
Leon Balogun
14
1,040
7.13
Ben Davies
8
657
6.93
Leon King
5
174
6.21
As you can see in the table above, the 20-year-old starlet ended the 2023/24 campaign with just five league appearances under his belt in the Scottish Premiership.
King, who was once described as a "Rolls Royce" by ex-Gers full-back Alan Hutton, is not benefitting from sitting on the bench or in the stands most weeks, rather than playing week-in-week-out at first-team level, as he is not gaining experience on the pitch.
This is why Clement must brutally bin the £8k-per-week defender from the squad this summer, whether that is on loan or on a permanent basis, due to the lack of game time facing him next season.
Why Cordoba and Balogun deals are bad news for King
He was below Daves, Balogun, who has just signed a new deal, Souttar, and Balogun already in the pecking order, and may now be behind Cordoba as well.
The new deal for the Nigerian defender could mean that he remains ahead of King, given that the 35-year-old colossus played nine more league matches and almost 900 more minutes in total this season.
Meanwhile, it would be odd for Rangers to sign a 22-year-old centre-back, in Cordoba, and not have him in mind to be playing regularly, or at least in the mix to start.
The Panama international played 29 league games for Levski Sofia during the 2023/24 campaign and made 4.4 interceptions per game to go along with an aerial duel success rate of 64%.
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Meanwhile, King made zero interceptions and lost a staggering 83% of his aerial duels across five appearances in the Premiership this term.
This does not suggest that the Scottish youngster has the quality to step up and play ahead of the new signing, whilst already being behind the other four centre-backs at the club, and that is why Clement must brutally bin him from the team this summer.