Jake Hastie was once tipped to be the next big thing at Rangers after breaking through at Motherwell.
In a storming first season at Fir Park, the powerful right-winger caught the eye alongside David Turnbull having spent the first half of the campaign at Alloa Athletic.
Recalled in January 2019, Jake Hastie exploded onto the scene at Motherwell with his six goals in 12 Premiership matches attracting plenty of transfer interest.
Rangers, then led by Steven Gerrard, were believed to have pulled off something of a coup in convincing the then 20-year-old to sign on at Ibrox in the summer.
But despite the outlay of around £350k in compensation, Hastie struggled to make his mark at Rangers and a series of failed loan moves followed.
Stints with Rotherham United, Motherwell, Partick Thistle and Linfield failed to herald results before Hartlepool United offered the winger a reprieve in 2022.
Now, two years on from signing a deal with the then English League Two side, Jake Hastie will be released from the now English fifth tier club at the end of the season.
Hastie one of nine released by Hartlepool
Hartlepool United have released their ‘retained list’ heading into the summer of 2024 and the end of the 23/24 National League season.
Jake Hastie is one of nine players being released by the Monkey Hangers come the end of the campaign and it’s a startling reminder of where the winger’s career actually is.
Having been open about his toils at Hartlepool, the now 25-year-old is actually out on loan at Scottish League One Hamilton until the end of the season.
Things haven’t entirely gone to plan at New Douglas Park either, with Hastie netting just once in 13 Scottish League One matches this season.
In total, the Scottish winger only actually made two appearances for Rangers.
The winger started the 6-0 Europa League Qualifying win over St Joseph’s at Ibrox in 2019 before coming off the bench in a 3-0 League Cup win over East Fife the same season.
Costly Rangers Motherwell call
As far as signing young players from Scottish clubs go, this was amongst the most ill-judged from a Rangers point of view.
The £350k compensation fee was not inconsiderable at the time and the failure of Jake Hastie to kick on at Rangers showed a real lack of forward planning.
It’s a warning about young players going through purple patches and whilst we need homegrown talents, they have to be the right homegrown talents.
Unfortunately for Rangers and Scottish football, the Premier League Academies will increasingly attract the best young Scottish players and we face a fight to develop our own talent.
