There aren’t many clubs that could compete with the affinity Kenny McLean has for Norwich City.
The 32-year-old has made his love for the Canaries patently clear on a number of occasions, from his raucous promotion celebrations in 2019 to his humble acceptance of last season’s Barry Butler Memorial Trophy.
Over six years of ups and downs, Norfolk has become a footballing and personal home for the Scottish midfielder, who’s had to fight for appreciation but has just started to get it from the Carrow Road faithful.
He rejected a move to Leeds United when they and Daniel Farke came calling last summer, and he’s made no attempt to agitate for moves despite multiple relegations and a variety of challenging circumstances in the last two years.
But Glasgow Rangers are a different case to most. McLean has supported the Light Blues since the start of his relationship with the sport, and their size is undeniable for even those who dismiss its quality north of the border.
That’s not to say he’s incapable of turning them down, and rumours have swirled in prior years before coming to very little. While the romance of Ibrox and a boyhood dream fulfilled is a factor, McLean is remarkably level-headed about his own career.
His interview with The Athletic summed the situation up when he was asked in 2021, with Norwich celebrating another promotion to the top flight.
"I'd be lying if I said it wasn't something I'd want to do," he said. "As a kid that's what you want to do, play for your boyhood team. Right now I'm about to play in the Premier League again, so I'm not thinking about it!
"But for me and my family it would be pretty special. I grew up a Rangers fan, used to go to the games with my dad and as a kid in Glasgow, you support Rangers or Celtic and you want to play for one of them. I was on the better side."
More than three years have passed since then, however, and the 29-year-old with several years left has become a more experienced, more influential leader, but one who will be aware of the R-word looming on the horizon.
How many chances will he get to make this move again? Are a side challenging for league titles likely to sign a 33-year-old? What if things don’t go as planned under Johannes Hoff Thorup? These would all be natural questions to ask.
For City there would be benefits, too. They’d be relieving themselves of a wage that’s reportedly frustrating Rangers’ attempts to do a deal, lowering the age profile of their squad and receiving a valuable fee at a tough financial time. They’d be giving Ben Knapper a blank slate to sign exactly the type of midfielder he wants.
They’d also be losing a vital cog in their midfield machine, and an example of the experience Thorup wants in the spine of his team. Although Knapper is keen to get the average age down, it won’t be the be-all and end-all.
“Even though you're 35, with the right mindset and great ambition you can still improve, you can still be better,” Thorup said at his official unveiling. “So when we talk about development, it is not only for 18-year-old players, it can also be for 26-year-olds or 31-year-olds.”
As the most important and consistent of the club's experienced heads last term, that surely includes McLean and what he could bring to the new era.
His future is yet another decision that will have to be made in a busy summer at the Lotus Training Centre, but either way it feels like a win-win for City.
Cash in and they'll have valuable capital to help fund their squad building, keep their player of the season and they'll have as reliable a Championship player as any, with the experience Thorup loves in the centre of the pitch.
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