Turkish giants Fenerbahce have been linked with a move for Rangers left-back Ridvan Yilmaz and a potential Ibrox reunion with Ryan Kent in Istanbul.
According to Turkish outlet Fotospor, Fenerbahce are plotting a potential move for Ridvan Yilmaz amid the Super Lig side’s stuttering interest in Sassuolo full-back Mert Muldur.
The report claims that Fenerbahce boss İsmail Kartal has turned his attentions to the 22-year-old Rangers left-back as the move for Muldur begins to break down.
Whilst Mert Muldur is naturally a right-back, according to Fotospor the original plan would have been to move Ferdi Kadioglu out to the left in order to accommodate the signing.
However, the Fenerbahce boss is now said to see no place for centre-back-turned-left-back Jayden Oosterwolde or the long-term Ibrox-linked Bright Osayi-Samuel in his squad next season.
With that in mind, Fenerbahce are now look at Rangers left-back Ridvan Yilmaz over to fill the position next season with the Turkish side keeping Ferdi Kadioglu on the right.
Fenerbahce linked to Rangers first choice Ridvan Yilmaz
Rangers paid an initial £3.4m to bring Ridvan Yilmaz to Glasgow from Bestikas last summer and the defender’s first season in Scotland didn’t exactly go to plan.
Initially struggling to settle away from Turkey, the defender also suffered a devastating hamstring injury which, like so many in last season’s squad, badly interrupted his campaign.
Towards the end of the season Ridvan Yilmaz began to come back into the Rangers team and fans now view the Turkish international as the club’s number one left-back option.
There is real excitement about what a settled and fully fit Ridvan Yilmaz can bring to Rangers and if Fenerbahce are serious about singing him, then they’ll need to cough up.
Couple this with those Nottingham Forest links to Borna Barisic and suddenly the youngster’s role in the squad becomes much more important.
Fenerbahce have had a very interesting summer to date and, having already moved for out-of-contract Rangers winger Ryan Kent, are investing heavily in their squad.
Also signing the likes of ex-Man City striker Edin Dzeko and Ajax’s captain from last season Dusan Tadic, there is a real buzz about the Super Lig side.
But we suspect that will be unlikely to extend to Ridvan Yilmaz, who has the stage set to go and make an impression at Rangers and stake his claim for a spot amongst Europe’s elite.
