Philippe Clement was always keen to play down the expectations surrounding a man he labels a ‘bright light’ of Scottish Premiership giants Rangers.
But, following another headline-making display and another sensational finish to boot, the excitement building around Hamza Igamane is threatening to reach fever pitch.
Amid much criticism of Rangers‘ business across recent transfer windows, the £1.7 million sum paid to bring Igamane to Ibrox from Moroccan outfit RAF Rabat is shaping up to be quite the snip.
Igamane has been likened to Alfredo Morelos by some. A £1 million addition from HJK Helsinki, Morelos more than repaid his bargain transfer fee with some pretty special goals in Rangers blue.
Igamane now has five in his last four games himself. And while the Ibrox faithful had to wait to see the 21-year-old at full flow – Clement was wary of throwing him in at the deep end at the start of the campaign – the Rangers boss accepts that he is now fighting a losing battle keeping a lid on the anticipation.
Philippe Clement hails Hamza Igamane’s ‘incredible’ Rangers rise
“It’s incredible how he has made his adaptation without understanding one word of English!,” Clement adds, using his background in Belgian and French football to help the North African youngster settle in.
“I think it helps that we have a few people in the club who can speak French, like a few [of the] players and me also. I can go into detail with him in French.
“Yeah, he’s a bright light. What we hoped he would be. [When] buying him, we saw the potential. But you can never know how fast they will adapt to a totally different culture, lifestyle, football at a higher level.
“But he is taking really, really good steps and he has been important for the team in the last couple of weeks.”
Hamza Igamane’s physicality and outstanding hold-up play caught the eye initially.
But, with only one goal in his first 11 Rangers appearances, there were concerns about whether he had the instincts to follow in Morelos’ footsteps. It’s fair to say those concerns are now being dismissed in pretty emphatic fashion.
Clement, however, insists that Rangers will not allow themselves to become over-reliant on a player still only a few months into his Scottish football career.
There will be plenty of opportunities to rotate and rest in the coming weeks. Especially with Danilo back to fitness – he doubled Rangers’ account against Ross County – and Cyriel Dessers offering a timely reminder of his own poaching potential with a brace off the bench in the 6-0 midweek beating of Kilmarnock.
Clement insists Danilo and Cyriel Dessers have big roles to play
“I don’t like the word ‘talisman’ because it means if he’s not playing we cannot win games,” Clement adds. “We don’t want to create a team like that because then it becomes easier for opponents.
“We need this competition and you see everybody’s pushing each other in that way. Hamza scored goals now in the last weeks, Danny scored goals, Cyriel scored goals, and that’s what you need to be a top team playing every three days in four competitions.
“You need this competition. Everybody standing up in the moments that they are playing. You see a really good team spirit already from the beginning of the season. We get some knocks because we needed some time to gel everything together, but you see the team grow.
“And I feel it also from the fans today, that they start to understand that.”
