Philippe Clement certainly thinks Rangers have got themselves quite a player in LOSC Lille loanee Rafael Fernandes.
And while the Rangers boss appears to be taking the same route as he did with Hamza Igamane – the former Portugal Under-21 international will be given the time to adapt and get used to life in Scotland before he is thrown into the first-team picture – Clement could hardly hide his excitement.
Rafael Fernandes will bring ‘several’ useful attributes to Ibrox, Clement feels. The 22-year-old is not only quick across the ground and physically imposing at 6ft 3ins, he is also a fine distributor.
After Clinton Nsiala was likened to Virgil van Dijk by Rangers teammate Ross McCausland last week, the addition of Fernandes should give Rangers two central defenders with the passing range of a seasoned midfielder.
As for Nils Koppen, Rangers’ technical director describes Fernandes as an ‘exciting, young addition’ to follow on neatly from Igamane, Jefte, Connor Barron and co.
Rangers told what to expect from former Sporting starlet Rafael Fernandes
Pedro Coehlo, a former coach of Fernandes’ in the Sporting Lisbon academy, is better placed than most to pass judgement on Rangers’ first and so far only January addition.
And he, like Clement, highlights the former Arouca giant’s technical qualities as well as his rapid acceleration and his ability to dominant one-v-one against opposition centre-forwards.
“Rafael was always one of the stand-out talents throughout Sporting’s youth age groups,” Coehlo tells Rangers Review.
“He’s always had very good technique on the ball alongside physical skills. He’s very tall, very fast and strong in the duels. For the position he plays at centre-back, he has a very good heading game which is very important.
“Technically, he is at a good level able to commit to his decisions, although his passing over medium distances is better than over long distances.
“Physically, he is very strong and in football, the physical skills are very important.”
Daniel Ramos worked with Fernandes during his breakout year at Arouca prior to that £2.5 million switch to Ligue 1 outfit Lille. Ramos highlighted Fernandes’ ‘remarkable’ drive for self-improvement.
This is also something Coehlo noted, praising his ‘character’ and feeling he everything in his locker to become a fine central defender.
At Ibrox, Fernandes will likely provide competition for fellow right-footer John Souttar in Clement’s squad. A first-team debut could come about sooner rather than later too with Souttar still unavailable, even if his manager is keen to avoid expecting too much too soon from the Premiership newcomer.
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Lille loanee has a few things to improve upon at Ibrox
“Raffa is very good in the air, strong and aggressive in defensive duels. Beating him in a one-on-one? It’s not easy,” Coehlo explains while admitting that Fernandes is far from the finished article at this stage.
Rangers’ number 28, he says, could certainly do with developing his left foot while his pass selection – i.e picking the right ball at the right time – also needs to improve. Then again, at just 22 years of age and after spending the season out of Lille’s first-team plans, that is exactly what Rafael Fernandes is at Rangers for; To improve.
“In general, Raffa has many of the characteristics that are most important to a centre-back playing at the top of Europe,” agrees Ruben Pinheiro, who worked as the assistant manager for Sporting’s youth side between 2018 and 2020.
“He’s a stable guy mentally with good resilience to respond. He only needs the opportunity to get some games. He needs consistency. But I believe a lot in Rafa.
“What does he need to improve? A little patience on the ball and also becoming a proactive, rather than a reactive, centre-back. But he has all the natural conditions to be a top player in that position. The very important ingredient is that he needs time and space to play.”
Rangers face Manchester United in Thursday’s Europa League clash. Clement may be tempted to keep Nsiala in the first-team after his eye-catching emergence, while Robin Propper and Leon Balogun will also hope to get the nod.
