Barry Ferguson admits he’s U-turned on one Rangers star after initially feeling ‘not too sure’ about what he could offer the club.
The former Ibrox skipper said that he ‘hummed and hawed’ over Turkish left-back Ridvan Yilmaz for some time before the 22-year-old’s recent performances proved him wrong.
Yilmaz has managed to usurp Borna Barsic as Rangers’ first-choice left-back this season after playing just three Scottish Premiership games under Michael Beale at the start of the season [Transfermarkt].
He was also left out of the Europa League squad this season but Philippe Clement has added him in for the knockout rounds after taking advantage of a UEFA rule that allows three changes to the original pool of players.
Yilmaz, like many other Rangers stars, has flourished under Clement and the contrast in form between Barisic and the Turk was clear to see on Wednesday against Kilmarnock.
The Croat started the game at left-back but was run ragged by Danny Armstrong. There was also an embarrassing moment for Barisic when he went down clutching his leg after the slightest of touches from Armstrong near the byline.
He was hooked at half-time for Yilmaz who helped Rangers come from 1-0 down to win 2-1 on the night and stay two points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
Ferguson was delighted with Yilmaz against the Ayrshire side and effectively said on The Go Radio Football Show that the £5m man has came on leaps and bounds since first joining Rangers under Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
Barry Ferguson on Ridvan Yilmaz
Barry Ferguson said: “One thing I will say is, I wasn’t too sure about Ridvan. I seen him and I was humming and hawing but over the last month or so, that young man has come onto a game.
“He’s impressed me and I thought he was really good when he came on on Wednesday night. So I think that left-back berth is Ridvan’s until the end of the season, there’s no doubt about that.”
Philippe Clement also took time to praise Yilmaz at his pre-Motherwell press conference on Friday and highlighted how much he has ‘grown’ in almost every sense of the word.
“Ridvan has had a really big evolution in the last couple of months, he has grown in almost every sense.
“There were a lot of rumours in January, but I didn’t see one second of a difference in his behaviour, training mentality or togetherness with the rest of the team.
“He has grown on the pitch. His level is higher physically, mentally and tactically. Also his resilience in duels his passion.
“He’s really popular in the dressing room also, he made a really good integration into the squad in the last couple of months. I don’t think that was the case six months ago.
“He’s a fighter and we need fighters, and I don’t mind how big they are in centimetres!”
