Rangers have to make every penny count in the transfer market with Philippe Clement looking to avoid the mistakes of the past.
When the manager first arrived at Ibrox he set out to fix one of the biggest issues affecting the first-team squad, if not the biggest.
Injuries have improved, however, the continued absence of Oscar Cortes continues to frustrate the Rangers boss, despite the ultimate show of faith.
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Philippe Clement backs Oscar Cortes to come good for Rangers
The Colombia youth international arrived in Scotland with an exciting reputation, players who light up Under-20 World Cups rarely end up on these shores.
An initial loan agreement was extended and the option to buy – believed to be around the £4m mark – became an obligation to buy.
Cortes had a clean bill of health before signing for Rangers but has featured just 15 times under Clement.
Not that this has altered the Gers boss’ view of whether or not the 21-year old winger should still be signed:
“Yes [we still want to sign Cortes], because the injuries were nothing to do with the injuries that he had last season,” Clement stated.
“So, those are decisions made by everybody in the club. He has the talent to do [bounce back],” he replied when asked if the Rangers No.7 could return to fitness and make key contribution in the future.
Are Rangers right to take a chance on Cortes?
It’s a huge gamble that Rangers are taking. Cortes clearly has talent, and Clement has spoken openly about his attitude and mentality too.
If the Gers boss wants to reduce the number of games missed by players, one of the key attributes that the club must consider when signing new talent should be how robust they are.
Cortes has been unlucky with the type of injuries that he has suffered though, the two major ones were as the result of landing awkwardly rather than simple muscle injuries.
The problem he has now, as with Danilo, is that he can’t get himself into a position to build up his minutes and the injury cycle keeps repeating itself.
Can Rangers afford to spend £4m on a player who spends more time sitting in the stand than running on the park? Apparently so.
