If there are two things which are under immense scrutiny at Rangers, it’s the club’s injury and transfer record.
The Gers have struggled in the medical department for the best part of three years and Philippe Clement has made it his mission to resolve the issues.
At the same time, Rangers have been spending big on transfers and wages for players who are not delivering for the club.
So when one player brings both situations under scrutiny at the same time, supporters naturally start to raise eyebrows.
And that’s the case for one expensive member of the Rangers squad who has been ruled out of action without any real timeline to return.
Oscar Cortes now out for ‘long term’
When Rangers signed Oscar Cortes on loan in January, initially it looked like a promising deal for the club.
Joining on loan from RC Lens, young winger Cortes brought a fresh energy to the squad and there were hopes he could spearhead the club’s title charge.
But a serious injury and subsequent surgery sustained only seven games into his Rangers career halted a promising start.
Rangers kept the faith in Oscar Cortes this summer however, and struck a £4m loan-to-buy deal after a positive recovery.
But so far it’s not gone to plan.
Heaping further scrutiny on the club’s use of a tight budget, Cortes picked up an injury on the opening day of the season against Hearts.
Returning briefly against Dundee United, Cortes picked up another injury in training which Clement was initially determined to talk down.
Now, the Rangers manager has admitted that the problem is ‘longer term’ but remained coy on just how long Cortes will be out of action.
“I expect in training to have Danilo back and Ridvan, maybe,” said Clement when asked about the club’s injuries heading into the international break.
“The two others (Cortes and Matondo) not yet, it’s too early for that. (Oscar Cortes) is going to be longer term.”
Rangers have £17.5m worth of talent sidelined
Whilst Philippe Clement isn’t responsible for the state of the Rangers squad when he walked into the door, he’s going to have to shoulder some of the blame with Oscar Cortes.
There is nothing the Colombian winger has done so far to justify the decision to take a £4m punt on his services and Cortes’s repeated injury problems have put huge pressure on the club and the winger.
With the club operating on a tight budget, to have such an expensive player consistently unavailable is demoralising for supporters who are willing genuine change at Ibrox.
It’s also the same old story from the last few seasons.
Oscar Cortes isn’t the only expensive addition who is not impacting the Rangers first-team squad either.
Of those mentioned by Clement, Oscar Cortes, Danilo, Ridvan Yilmaz and Rabbi Matondo cost a combined £17.5m between them.
In fact it’s the majority of the club’s most expensive signings of the last three years who are finding themselves routinely sidelined.
