Talks between Rangers and Brighton and Hove Albion are ongoing with there a confidence at Ibrox that Abdallah Sima will join on loan from the Premier League outfit this week.
Not so long ago, Abdallah Sima was being held aloft as one of the bright young hopes of European football.
Slavia Prague’s president confirmed towards the back end of 2020 that West Ham United – amongst others – had shown an interest in a player some had dubbed the ‘new Thierry Henry’ due to his searing pace and measured finishing ability.
Tvrdik even indicated that Slavia would demand £50 million.
So the fact that Sima could now join Rangers on a season-long deal is – with all due respect to the Scottish Premiership – testament to just how badly things have gone for the speedy Senegal international over the last two years.
Rangers in Brighton talks for Abdallah Sima
Sima joined Brighton in the summer of 2021 – albeit for much less than the £50 million fee Tvrdik ambitiously quoted – and has not played a single game for the Seagulls since then. Injuries ruined his loan spell at Stoke City. He then finished rock bottom of France’s Ligue 1 with Angers during 2022/23.
So Rangers, like with Todd Cantwell and Sam Lammers, would be getting a player looking to rebuild his reputation after a damaging couple of seasons.
According to The Sun, Sima is not part of Roberto de Zerbi’s ‘immediate’ plans at Brighton. Talks over a deal that would see the club’s £7 million forgotten man join Rangers on loan for the 2023/24 season are ongoing; the Glasgow giants reportedly ‘confident’ that Sima will be posing for photos at Ibrox before the month is out.
Sima, like many of Rangers’ recent additions, is capable of thriving in a number of different positions. He can play anywhere across the frontline, scoring 20 goals and setting up eight more during that breakthrough 2020/21 campaign.
Whether he succeeds or not north of the border, however, relies on Sima staying fit and rediscovering the form which caught Brighton’s eye in the first place.
“He’s being talked about,” Czech legend Petr Cech said during Sima’s time in Prague. “When a player succeeds at such a young age, starts scoring goals and produces in Europe, clubs take notice. There aren’t many players like this in Europe.
“At his age, he may have some fluctuations. It isn’t easy to play every match in the same way. (But) he is very good physically, especially in terms of speed.”
