It’s only November but already Rangers fans are looking ahead to what promises to be a January transfer window full of intrigue.
The voices that matter at Rangers insist that the club remains in the midst of a substantial rebuild, as the custodians of the last few years reflect on consistent failures.
Philippe Clement has been tasked with shouldering the complications of this summer’s squad revamp, with Rangers reducing the wage-bill and focusing on young talent from emerging markets.
With all that in mind, Rangers have been clear that work is already well under way with a view to the January transfer window opening.
But what might we expect come the winter as Rangers look to get the club’s long-term ambitions back on track?
Rangers braced for interest in players
In terms of outgoings, there is likely to be a similar call for several of the club’s highest earners and underachievers to be moved on.
Leading the pack is Rangers captain James Tavernier, who was even criticised by Philippe Clement for his poor defensive work in the 1-0 win over Hearts.
It’s clear the legendary Rangers right-back isn’t the player he used to be and as the club goes in a new direction, many believe consistently picking the skipper is to the side’s detriment.
We expect more chatter around a potential switch to the Middle East with the future of James Tavernier very much a hot topic of debate.
Away from that, Nils Koppen claimed in an interview with RangersTV that there is ‘also the possibility that players will leave the club’ in the weeks and months ahead and that the club need to be ‘ready’ for that eventuality.
Talking to the Rangers Review, Koppen said the recruitment team ‘need another summer window to phase some players out, get some others in’.
With the futures of Ridvan Yilmaz and Rabbi Matondo never far from the headlines, we expect one or two others in the Rangers team might be turning heads.
If we’re talking about players of genuine value, the likes of Jack Butland, Dujon Sterling, Jefte, Connor Barron and Mohamed Diomande won’t be far from the discussion.
As for fringe players, the likes of Kieran Dowell and Ianis Hagi are high earners who aren’t contributing enough whilst Leon King, Alex Lowry and Adam Devine are nowhere to be seen.
Rangers ‘identify’ key positions in transfer planning
In terms of incomings, the situation at Rangers paints a distinctly different picture.
Despite Rangers posting over £17m in losses last season, Chairman John Gilligan insists there will be cash to spend for Philippe Clement this January.
Rangers director of recruitment Nils Koppen has also claimed that Rangers have ‘identified’ the areas they would like to improve with the club now ‘preparing’ for the January window opening.
Last year, Rangers brought in Fabio Silva on loan before the window had even opened with Mohamed Diomande and Oscar Cortes joining soon after.
We expect Rangers to be ready to pounce early on in January amid a run of tough fixtures but we’ve seen already that the club has had difficulties securing key targets in the last few windows.
There will be a number of options in each of those positions identified as a weakness and Rangers will move through them dependent on all the factors which go into a transfer.
The question is then, where do Rangers need to improve and which areas have been identified by the recruitment team?
Rangers have been over reliant on Nedim Bajrami in the left-wing position and despite having Rabbi Matondo and Oscar Cortes, will be looking for an attacking type who can play across the front three.
Morgan Whittaker certainly fits the bill but could be out of the club’s price range.
Rangers also failed in attempts to sign an experienced midfielder who can help with the ‘control’ and ‘game management’ Clement claimed was missing from the clash with Hearts.
Kenny McLean of Norwich and Joan Jordan of Sevilla were strongly linked in the summer.
Beyond that, with Dutch defender Robin Propper struggling to settle many feel Rangers are short at the centre of defence and we may re-enter the market for another centre-back.
