Amid all the Billy Gilmour hype and the cries for Liam Burt to be in the first team, a few players have slipped under the radar in Graeme Murty’s Development Squad, but one who consistently impresses is Jamie Barjonas. The classy midfielder is currently under contract until 2018 but it’s likely to be extended before too long.
Former Greenfaulds High pupil Barjonas only turned 18 at the end of January but has put in a number of high quality performances against far more experienced players in the U20s; anchoring the midfield as the defensive midfielder or partnering a more attack-minded midfielder a bit further forward. Barjonas has also contributed a handful of spectacular goals for this season, even garnering some social media attention after sharing video of the first of two against Falkirk in the Scottish FA Youth Cup on Twitter.
Possessing a fantastic range of passing and an ability to read the game well, Barjonas looks as though he could become a mainstay of the Rangers midfield for years to come. With only a handful of senior appearances under his belt so far, a loan move could happen to allow ‘Barjo’ the opportunity to play regular first-team football before staking his claim for a first-team place at Ibrox.
Barjonas joined Rangers in 2010 and progressed through the Academy at Auchenhowie before being promoted to the U20s last season under Ian Durrant. Despite promotion to the highest development squad he continued to turn out for the U17 side and captained them to the final of last season’s Glasgow Cup before stepping up full time this term. As he has worked his way through the youth programme, the 18-year-old has made a number of appearances across various national team age-groups as well as training with the Rangers first team squad at Auchenhowie.
In recent U20 fixtures Barjonas has linked up well beside Billy Gilmour and Jack Thomson and, as part of that trio, dominated Falkirk in the recent Scottish Youth Cup tie at Ibrox as the midfielders helped themselves to four of the Gers’ five goals. With manager Mark Warburton watching on from the Ibrox Director’s Box the young midfielder can’t have done his chances of a call-up to the senior side any harm at all.
This article is part of a series profiling all the current best prospects in the Rangers youth academy right now. Click here to see all of the profiles we've done so far. You can also follow the youth team by reading GTBFO, or following them live on our Twitter page.