The loan market can be a very useful place for teams who want quality on a budget.
Normally, this is by taking talented youth players on loan from clubs around Europe. That’s all well and good – when it works.
Rangers have relied heavily on them for the last while. At the club currently, we have three players on loan. Coulibaly from Angers, Worrall from Forest and Kent from Liverpool.
Of them, the only one who has really produced is Kent. We also had Ejaria, but we couldn’t rely on the midfielder in the end. Neither could his teammates.
Last season, we brought in seven in total by January’s end. Only Jamie Murphy and Declan John, who both moved to the club permanently, really stood up to the test in Govan.
But when you look across the other side of the city, Celtic have had real success. Edouard, Denayer, Roberts and Benkovic are some prime examples. Obviously they’ve had horrors themselves, but no where near to the same ratio as us. They’re about to get a highly rated PSG midfielder in too.
When you sign a loan player, in order to maintain a good relationship with their parent club you have to play them. For too long Rangers have been surrendered to mercenary loanees who will leave the club come the end of the season.
Rangers have to be smarter about how they shop in this market. Because when they work, loan deals are a great way to get real quality in.
But to do that Rangers must improve their dealings in the loan market and aim for better players.
Signing this highly rated youth striker would be a start.