Rangers have now officially missed out on Dimitrios Kourbelis as the former Panathinaikos captain is unveiled as a Trabzonspor player.
And that is much to the delight of head coach Nenad Bjelica.
While agreeing a £3.5 million deal with Southampton for Mislav Orsic – a man who played fewer Premier League minutes for the Saints than one Ali Dia – Bjelica’s Trabzonspor have pulled off another eye-catching coup in the shape of a 29-year-old Greece international who arrives on the banks of the Black Sea after arguably the finest season of his entire career.
According to SportDay, Rangers informed Kourbelis of their desire to bring the experienced playmaker to Ibrox in the spring. But, after performing a U-turn over his new contract at Panathinaikos, Kourbelis instead puts pen to paper with a Trabzonspor side hoping to emulate their 2022 Super Lig-winning campaign in 2024.
“I expect him to be an important football player for Trabzonspor,” Bjelica smiles. “He was the captain and leader of Panathinaikos for many years. I expect the same to be in our team now.
“Dimitrios will add a lot to Trabzonspor with his experience.”
Rangers miss out on Dimitrios Kourbelis
According to SDNA, Kourbelis has signed a two-year deal, with an option for a third. He will take home around £16,000-a-week in Turkey.
Rangers, meanwhile, appeared to turn their attention to Kieran Dowell and Jose Cifuentes after initially hearing that Kourbelis had planned to extend his stay at Trabzonspor back in April.
By the time the former Asteros Tripolis ace had backed down on that decision, Rangers had already agreed a deal for Dowell. Talks regarding Cifuentes were also well down the line.
The Athletic say that, while the trail has grown cold of late, the Ecuador international is still ‘likely’ to arrive in Glasgow from Los Angeles FC.
