Andy Halliday might’ve left Rangers four years ago but the popular ex-Ibrox midfielder still has close connections to his old club.
The boyhood bluenose still has several former teammates in the Ibrox dressing room whilst his connections at the club’s Auchenhowie training centre run deep.
Being a Rangers fan, the Motherwell midfielder turned Scottish football pundit is always on the hunt for any information on what’s going on in the Ibrox squad.
Speaking on a leading Scottish football podcast this week, Andy Halliday has revealed that he’s been hearing very positive things about Ibrox summer signing Hamza Igamane.
Andy Halliday hearing Hamza Igamane is a ‘player’
Rangers fans are yet to see a glimpse of Hamza Igamane in an Ibrox shirt.
The Gers forked out a reported £1.7m to sign Igamane from Moroccan club FAR Rabat this summer but Philippe Clement has been clear the club will take their time introducing the 21-year-old to the team.
Suggesting that Igamane is yet to train at a level as high both athletically and technically as the Rangers squad, the Moroccan striker is also adjusting to life in Scotland.
With Rangers manager Clement hinting that Gers fans would see Igamane before the end of the year, fans remain eager to see what the forward can bring to the team.
Andy Halliday has been putting his feelers out to the Rangers Training Centre and has told Open Goal that he’s hearing very positive things about Hamza Igamane at Auchenhowie.
“From what I’ve heard he’s not bad,” said Halliday. “I’m always asking about new signings.
“They’re saying that he’s shown flashes, that there’s a player there.”
Whilst Halliday would later go on to describe Igamane as ‘injured’ earlier in the summer, this conflicts with claims from Philippe Clement.
The Gers manager swatted away rumours of an injury to the striker and suggested that the club were first building Igamane’s training level.
“Hamza is doing part of the training with the group, so step by step he is going to the physical level that we need in training and later in the games,” Clement said earlier in August.
“He is showing a lot of interesting things with the ball, which we saw from him in the games we saw in Morocco.
“He is settling in well. And with the language he is starting to learn his first English words and he is feeling really happy and grateful to be here. He is very determined to become a big player here.”
Moroccan talent bolsters Rangers striker options
The comments of Andy Halliday will only add to the excitement around Hamza Igamane amongst Rangers supporters.
Whilst the Moroccan U21 striker would’ve been a relative unknown to Gers fans before his signing, there are big things expected of the forward.
Named as one of the best U23 strikers in global football by CIES Football Observatory, the signing of Igamane exemplifies Rangers’ more creative approach to player transfers.
The Gers are on the hunt for top talents from emerging markets that they can transform into winners before banking a healthy profit.
It’s a system that Rangers have failed to fully get up and running in recent seasons and there are hopes Hamza Igamane can be one name who goes for megabucks in the coming seasons.
Before then though, the Rangers training staff are tasked with helping the forward reach his potential and it’s an exciting moment in the young striker’s career.
Rangers have a number of increasing options in the ‘number nine’ berth this season with Cyriel Dessers proving himself worthy of the jersey so far this campaign.
Returning Brazilian striker Danilo also got off the mark for the season v Ross County whilst England youth international Zak Lovelace is considered to be close to the first-team.
