James Tavernier is set to leave Rangers for Maccabi Tel Aviv, with the Ibrox captain due to fly to Israel today for a medical as he closes in on a move to the Israeli champions.
The deal has yet to be rubber-stamped by Maccabi, but the direction of travel is clear. Local reports say the 34-year-old will earn around €1 million per season, a salary that underlines both his stature and the scale of Maccabi’s ambition.
Miller’s man
This is not a move driven by agents throwing names at a club board. Kenny Miller wants James Tavernier.
The Maccabi manager, who shared a dressing room with Tavernier at Rangers for three seasons, has personally identified the right-back as a cornerstone of his squad rebuild. Israeli journalist Ben Green reports that Miller has been pushing hard for the deal, and the coach himself has already spoken publicly about the possibility.
“I know him well, he’s a very high-level player, his name came up in the last month,” Miller told the Israeli press. For a manager usually careful with his words, that was as close to an open invitation as Tavernier could get.
The relationship matters. Miller knows exactly what Tavernier brings: leadership, delivery from wide areas, set-piece quality and a mentality forged in the relentless glare of Glasgow. He is not signing a reputation; he is signing a player he has already trusted on the pitch.
A legacy leaving Ibrox
If this move goes through, Rangers are losing far more than a right-back.
Tavernier spent 11 years at Ibrox and became one of the defining figures of the club’s modern era. He captained Steven Gerrard’s side to the 2020/21 Scottish Premiership title, an unbeaten league campaign that snapped Celtic’s domestic dominance and restored Rangers to the summit of Scottish football.
His medal collection in Glasgow tells its own story: one Premiership title, one Scottish Cup, one Premier Sports Cup, one Challenge Cup and a Championship title from the climb back to the top flight. The near miss came in Europe, where he led Rangers all the way to the 2022 Europa League final in Seville and finished as the competition’s top scorer with seven goals.
Those numbers would be impressive for a centre-forward. For a defender, they are scarcely believable.
Across his 11 years at Ibrox, Tavernier scored 152 goals, an extraordinary tally that rewrote expectations of what a full-back can be in the modern game. Penalties, free-kicks, open-play surges into the box – he turned the right flank into a permanent attacking threat.
In 2023, Rangers inducted him into their Hall of Fame, formal recognition of a legacy that was already etched into the club’s recent history. If he boards that flight and signs on in Tel Aviv, he leaves behind not just a captain’s armband, but an era.
Tactical shift on the horizon
Maccabi Tel Aviv are not just signing a name; they may be reshaping a system around him.
In Israel, there is already talk that Miller could adjust his tactical approach to maximise Tavernier’s strengths. One option on the table is a move towards a wing-back system, freeing the former Rangers captain to attack higher up the pitch and spend less time pinned into a traditional back four.
It makes sense. Tavernier’s greatest weapon is his ability to influence games in the final third – with crosses, cut-backs, late runs and dead-ball precision. Give him the right platform and he can tilt a league campaign.
The prospect has stirred real excitement in Israel. Local media have described him as one of the most notable players ever to join the Ligat Ha'al, a marquee arrival more associated with European knockout nights than with a new challenge in the Middle East.
A new chapter in Tel Aviv
Maccabi are not standing still elsewhere, either. Gabi Kanikovsky is returning to the club from Ferencvaros as the window closes, another sign that the champions intend to strengthen from a position of power rather than simply protect what they have.
Drop Tavernier into that mix and the picture sharpens: experience at the back, end product from wide areas, and a proven leader walking into a dressing room that expects to win.
If the medical goes to plan and the final details fall into place, James Tavernier will swap Ibrox for Tel Aviv and begin a new chapter after more than a decade in Glasgow. The question now is simple: how much can one of Rangers’ modern greats still bend a title race – this time, under the Israeli sun?
