- Rangers expect Findlay Curtis to remain at Ibrox and join Danny Rohl’s first-team plans.
- Michael Stewart urged Hearts to test Rangers with a transfer bid for the Scottish international winger.
- Curtis’ successful Kilmarnock loan strengthened Rangers’ belief in his long-term potential.
Former Scotland international Michael Stewart believes his former club Hearts should test Rangers’ resolve over highly-rated winger Findlay Curtis this summer.
However, the reality inside Ibrox suggests such a move is highly unlikely to materialise.
Curtis has emerged as one of Rangers’ most promising academy graduates following an impressive loan spell at Kilmarnock, where he scored five goals and registered one assist in 14 appearances while helping the club secure Scottish Premiership survival.
His performances were significant enough to earn a surprise call-up to the Scotland squad ahead of this summer’s World Cup in North America.
Michael Stewart calls for Hearts to sign Findlay Curtis
That rapid rise prompted Stewart to suggest Hearts should attempt to capitalise if Curtis remains outside the immediate first-team picture at Rangers.
“If I were Hearts, they need to be at a stage where if Curtis isn’t going to be getting the game time that he needs or should get at Rangers,” he said.
“They should be going and making a bid.
“Spend a little money and speculate because you know this guy is a difference-maker.
“He’s top class, and you would make that money back tenfold.”
Rangers want to keep Findlay Curtis at Ibrox
Yet Rangers’ current stance points firmly in the opposite direction.
Rather than preparing another loan or entertaining permanent offers, the expectation is that Curtis will remain at Ibrox this summer and be integrated into Danny Rohl’s senior squad plans during pre-season.
The club are understood to view the winger’s successful Rugby Park spell as the ideal developmental step before meaningful first-team assessment at Rangers level.
Curtis himself previously admitted he actively pushed for the Killie loan move after recognising regular football was essential to his progression.
“I actually pushed for a loan,” he explained previously.
“I spoke with the manager after the Porto game. He was just saying that he would love me to stay here, but he can’t guarantee me the minutes.”
The winger also acknowledged the importance of consistent senior exposure rather than fragmented academy football.
“I just love playing football,” Curtis said.
“As a young kid, you want to go out and express yourself against older boys and more serious people and play in the best league you can.”
Readrangers.com analysis – Jack Cranmer
That development process has now altered Rangers’ thinking.
Internally, Curtis is increasingly viewed as an example of the pathway Rangers want academy players to follow.
One where they experience strong youth progression, an effective Premiership loan, then direct first-team integration rather than endless temporary moves.
His Scotland breakthrough only reinforced that belief.
“If I had stayed at Rangers, I don’t think I would have ever got that call-up,” Curtis admitted.
Rangers are expected to use the first half of the upcoming campaign as an evaluation period.
Before reassessing his situation in January if necessary.
That makes a permanent transfer to Hearts, particularly at this stage of his development, difficult to envisage.
The added context of Rangers potentially signing club captain Lawrence Shankland from Tynecastle this summer adds extra bite to the speculation from a Jambo perspective.
While Stewart’s comments underline the growing regard for Curtis across Scottish football.
Rangers currently see him not as a player available for transfer, but as one pivotal to their longer-term planning.
