Much has been made of the goal threat Lyall Cameron should bring to Rangers once his Dundee contract expires over the summer.
The Scotland Under-21 international has scored eight goals from midfield already this season. More than Mohamed Diomande, Nico Raskin and Connor Barron combined.
And given that Rangers already possess a centre-forward who loves to drop deep, drift wide and open up spaces for his teammates to dart into, Hamza Igamane and Lyall Cameron feels like a match made in heaven already.
But Cameron is not merely a goal threat.
Only St Johnstone’s veteran playmaker Graeme Carey and Motherwell wonderkid Lennon Miller provide more expected assists per 90 minutes amongst all the central midfielders in Scotland’s top flight. Take set-pieces away, and the Dundee dynamo stands alone at the summit.
So while Lyall Cameron will bring formidable running-power, box-to-box qualities, and impressive off-the-ball movement, the talents he offers in possession should not be overlooked.
Former Dundee coach explains why Lyall Cameron will thrive at Rangers
James McPake worked with Cameron while he was still a teenager at Dundee.
And, speaking to Rangers Review, the 22-year-old’s former coach sees no reason why he will not be able to make the admittedly considerable step up from Dens Park to the crushing expectation of Ibrox.
“He’s been brilliant for Dundee,” McPake explains. “Speaking from a Dundee perspective, I’m gutted that he will be leaving.
“But, on a human and personal note, I’m delighted to see him getting a move to a huge club.”
McPake helped hone Cameron’s talents in the Under-18s before promoting him to the first-team set-up when taking the job top in 2019.
“Technically, he’s superb,” the former Northern Ireland international adds. “He’s a really good footballer. He’s a good player, worked really hard on his game. He’s obviously kicked on and I’m delighted to see it.”
“Lyall is quiet but good. I don’t mean he’s quiet in a bad way. He just kind of gets on with his job. He’s always desperate to train, desperate to get better.”
The only other player to put pen to paper with Rangers during the winter window was a Portuguese centre-half signed on loan from LOSC Lille.
Rafael Fernandes brings a ‘remarkable’ drive for self-improvement to Glasgow, and it appears that is an attribute Cameron shares with a graduate from the fabled Sporting Lisbon academy.
Cameron’s ‘elite mindset’ should help him adapt at Ibrox
“In terms of the way he works and how he works, Lyall’s attitude was top drawer. He’s got that elite mindset where he’s just desperate to get better all the time,” McPake explains, tipping Cameron to emulate the impact his former Dundee teammate Ross McCowan has made down the road at Celitc.
“He’ll continue to do that and he’ll get better. I think just because he’s played a lot of games and been around for so long, you sometimes do forget just how young he was.”
“It is a similar situation to Luke McCowan, who I also had at Dundee, and he’s went to Celtic and done fantastic. I’m adamant that Lyall will do the same and go to Rangers to do the same.
“He’s going into a size of club like that and he will relish in the opportunity to go and play and prove himself, not just as a Premiership player but a Premiership player for Rangers.”
Ibrox icon Barry Ferguson is ‘delighted’ to see Rangers snap up Lyall Cameron amid reported interest from rivals Aberdeen. Their successful pursuit of one of the league’s rising stars, meanwhile, could draw a line under Rangers’ interest in the £2.5 million-rated Croatian starlet Marko Soldo.
