Rangers defender Ridvan Yilmaz will feature more prominently this season – according to another club’s president.
Gers fans were maybe a little surprised at a lack of defensive additions over the summer window.
Dujon Sterling and Leon Balogun arrived but neither are really seen as players to elevate the quality of Rangers’ starting XI.
Rangers are still going with the likes James Tavernier, Connor Goldson and Borna Barisic in big games, possibly showing a lack of change and improvement to the lineup.
Signings have been made but haven’t yet made a huge impact – such as Turkish left back Ridvan Yilmaz.
Ridvan Yilmaz given blow in Celtic clash
Big things were expected of Yilmaz as he arrived from Besiktas last summer.
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Rangers took some of the Calvin Bassey money and splashed £5million on Yilmaz in a belief that he could become the long-term left back at Ibrox.
The 22-year-old had impressed with Besiktas, bagging four goals and seven assists in 62 outings for the Turkish giants.
Yilmaz hasn’t quite replicated that kind of form though, managing just 16 appearances in a Rangers shirt.
We have seen some of Yilmaz’s attacking qualities, but also his defensive deficiencies, which have left him behind Barisic in the pecking order.
Yilmaz has only played 25 minutes of the season having picked up an injury, and was ignored for the left back role against Celtic in favour of right-footed Sterling.
Even with limited minutes behind him, that will have been a blow for Yilmaz, who just can’t seem to get going at Ibrox.
Besiktas chief comments on Yilmaz
Rangers fans are still to be convinced by Yilmaz, but he still has one big supporter in Besiktas president Ahmet Nur Cebi.
Cebi has told Sports Digitale in Turkey that he knows Rangers won’t be offloading Yilmaz any time soon.
Cebi believes that Rangers saw last season as a preparation year for Yilmaz, believing that he will ‘play more matches’ this year.
“‘I know Rangers will not sell Rıdvan. They took him last year for preparation, this year Rıdvan will play more matches there,” he added.
It’s already feeling like a big season for Yilmaz, who really needs to prove that he should be in the team ahead of Barisic.
If we get to January and Yilmaz still isn’t featuring prominently under Michael Beale, then an exit may well be on the cards in 2024.