Rangers 'braced' to lose key Ibrox staff member to major European club as 'hidden contract clause' disclosed

Rangers are in danger of losing Academy Director Zeb Jacobs to Dutch giants Feyenoord, according to reports in the Netherlands.

The Belgian arrived at Ibrox three years ago after quitting his role as head of develop at Royal Antwerp in his homeland. He joined initially as Head of Academy Coaching before earning a promotion to his current job title last summer.

Now he is reportedly being lined up for a similar position by last season’s Eredivisie champions, with youth supremo Jacobs under consideration to replace outgoing academy chief and former Rosenborg boss Rini Coolen, who is set to depart the Rotterdam club at the end of the current season.

It is claimed the 29-year-old has a clause in his Gers contract which would allow him to leave Glasgow by providing only one month’s notice if he was to be approached by another club. Feyenoord’s technical director Dennis te Kloese is seeking a quick appointment and has identified Jacobs as his ideal first-choice candidate.

They want him in place as soon as possible amid growing concerns that first-team manager Arne Slot - previously linked with the Tottenham and Leeds United job - could depart this summer after being named as one of the frontrunners to succeed Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool.

Klopp announced in January he will leave Anfield at the end of the season and former Reds’ star Xabi Alonso was rumoured to be their No.1 target. However, he recently stated his intention to stay in Germany with newly-crowned Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen.

Earlier this year, Jacobs outlined some of the unusual methods he has been adopting at the club’s Auchenhowie training base. “We sometimes train barefoot,” he revealed. “We speak about being innovative as one of our key pillars and take learning as a starting point, not football. What we know from a skill development perspective is that feet have millions of sensitive neurones and receptors.

“The amount of touches is much more sensible without boots, than with boots. Secondly from an injury prediction perspective, it’s just really healthy to play and walk on your bare feet. From a technical perspective to play and master the ball, and secondly from a movement perspective, we know from research there’s a massive benefit on learning.

“We come up with crazy ideas but we believe we need to think outside the box. If we want to become a producing academy, what we believe we can be, we need to make sure we keep challenging the staff in different things. And make this club and academy a producing one across Scotland and Europe because we have the best young talent, and the best programme, in Scotland.”