JOHN FLECK has become the ninth Rangers star to refuse to have his contract transferred over to the newco.
The highly-rated youngster decided to join the exodus of first-team players quitting the crisis-hit Ibrox club which has left owner Charles Green facing up to losing around £25million worth of talent for nothing.
Captain Steven Davis and fans' favourite Allan McGregor – together worth a combined total of at least £10m – announced their decision to leave the club yesterday just hours after Kyle Lafferty and Jamie Ness quit.
And with Steven Naismith, Steven Whittaker, Sone Aluko and Rhys McCabe all making the same decision over the weekend, Ally McCoist's squad has been ravaged as the club stumble from one crisis into another.
SportTimes understands Fleck attempted to contact the Ibrox manager on several occasions over the last couple of days in an attempt to clear-up his own future and find out if he would be in his plans for next season.
The 20-year-old was shipped out on loan to Blackpool in January and hasn't had any contact with McCoist, his coaching staff or any club official since he headed south, despite the Ibrox club entering administration.
But with just one year remaining on his present deal, and no assurances or information on whether or not he would be wanted back by McCoist for next season, Fleck decided to join the growing batch of players all leaving the club.
More departures are expected to be confirmed, and while supporters will undoubtedly question the commitment of their heroes, it is becoming increasingly apparent they have been left completely in the dark by the management at the club.
It is also believed the playing squad were furious at having their contracts transferred over en-masse with the rest of the clubs employees on June 14, without consultation.
The decisions taken by both Davis and McGregor, however, will have come as the biggest blows to the Light Blue legions.
Although still contesting their legal rights to move on, the announcements will be crushing for Green and his backers as the financial fall-out continues to rumble on with relegation to either the First or Third Division almost inevitable.
Under normal circumstances, Naismith would be likely to command a transfer fee in the region of £5m, and Whittaker would have set interested clubs back around £3m were he to have been put up for sale.
Lafferty was linked with a £1.5m move to England only last term having made a major impact at Rangers last season, and attracting the interest of various clubs south of the border, Aluko could have been sold for at least the same figure.
And as three of the hottest prospects in Scottish football, Fleck, Ness and McCabe's departures will cost the Ibrox club several million pounds as well as killing off McCoist's hopes of possibly building a team around them.
Lee Wallace has already declared he is going nowhere, and veteran midfielder Lee McCulloch has insisted from the outset he will still be at Rangers next season, regardless of what division the club are playing in.
Dorin Goian, who has been given extended leave until July 9 after international commitments with Romania, has also confirmed he will transfer to the newco.
Elsewhere, Rangers have pulled out of Southampton's Markus Liebherr Cup on July 14 due to the crisis.