Lassana Coulibaly has had a mixed season with Rangers.
He arrived on loan from Angers in July and quickly established himself as a starter in midfield.
Over those first few months, he looked a real find. A physical presence and powerful runner, he commanded the middle of the park and popped up with a couple of goals.
However, a muscle injury ensured he spent a few weeks on the sidelines and since then, he hasn’t really regained that early form.
There were glimpses here and there in the run-up to Christmas. It must be said that due to injuries and suspensions he was also deployed in an unfamiliar advanced role and that didn’t help his cause.
Yet, there was no single stand out performance. Consequently, when the Gers went out and strengthened in January, he slipped further down the pecking order.
He’s started just once in the league in 2019 and was omitted from the squads that travelled to Motherwell and Hearts.
Therefore, it looks unlikely the club will push for a permanent deal in the summer.
Coulibaly’s future is elsewhere
Steven Gerrard has already explained some of the factors that would make a switch permanent difficult [Daily Record]. Most importantly, he wouldn’t be cheap, as his Angers contract runs until 2021 [Transfermarkt].
With the wealth of options currently at the manager’s disposal in midfield, there’s simply no call for a sizeable outlay to secure the £1.13m-rated midfielder [Transfermarkt].
There’s no doubt there’s a player in there, though.
At just 23, he’s clearly still raw and in need of refinement. Yet, he has plenty of the required attributes to become a good player and in a few years, he could be a real force.
There just isn’t the time or resources for that process to happen at Ibrox. Therefore, he’s likely to return to Ligue 1 unchallenged, at the end of the season.
