Earlier in the season, Rangers fans were already calling for the club to make their reported £5m loan-to-buy option with Bayern talent Malik Tillman permanent.
Gers sporting director Ross Wilson was praised for structuring an impressive deal with the Germany-born USA international who had an impressive start to life at Ibrox.
But the 20-years-old has begun to frustrate Rangers fans who have criticised the player’s application in the 2-0 Champions League defeat to Liverpool at Anfield.
Whilst we must get some perspective – Rangers were playing last season’s beaten finalists after all – a lack of ability can be excused amongst Gers fans but a lack of effort simply will not fly.
The attacking midfielder, forced out on to the right as per Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s set up in Liverpool, cut a dejected figure throughout the match and fans have criticised a lack of commitment.
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Rangers have seen flashes of what the kid can produce, particularly on the European stage, but Malik Tillman is in a strange limbo between mercurial young talent and luxury weight in the minds of many supporters.
Whilst young players are always going to be inconsistent, its in these sorts of matches where you need your most technical players to deliver on and off the ball and in the defeat to Liverpool Tillman did neither.
Rangers fans expect full-bloodied performances regardless of the opposition and after winning many over with his ability earlier in the season, Malik Tillman clearly has others he needs to convince with his work-rate.
Rangers fans criticise Bayern loanee Malik Tillman
Gers fans are beginning to hold off on that reported £5m it’ll take to sign the player come the end of his loan move with judgement reserved for now.
The same can be said of James Sands – another young American player who has struggled with first-team exposure between impressing at times this season – who is currently on loan from NYCFC.
Sands was banned for the clash with Liverpool due to receiving a red card in the 3-0 defeat to Napoli at Ibrox in the last round of fixtures and this has fans debating the need to fork out for him come the end of the season.
With Sands, 22, commanding a similar fee, it’s around £10m of Rangers’ money which has been potentially set aside to secure deals for both players.
Both are young and have shown flashes of the potential that had Rangers bring them to Ibrox between January and the summer, but will they do enough to justify the high transfer fees between now and the end of the season?
Meanwhile, Rangers murmurs around a Premier League rival are surely a wind-up given the bad blood between all parties involved.