Despite not having a manager or a sporting director, Nils Koppen will be continuing his work behind the scenes looking for new players for Rangers.
Patrick Stewart spoke about the player trading model, the need to sign not just young players with potential but also experience too – if the price is right.
The first steps have been taken on this path with the Rangers squad already four years younger on average and the wage bill significantly reduced.
There are still non-contributors offering very little for what is being paid with harsh lessons being learnt from the recruitment issues of the past.
Shopping in markets where there wages are cheaper and talent isn’t as expensive makes a lot of sense which is why Rangers continued links to Relebohile Mofokeng won’t go away.
South African talented warned amid Relebohile Mofokeng links to Rangers
The South Africa international is tipped to move to Europe this summer but Cape Town Spurs head coach Ernst Middendorp has a word of warning given the lack of players who have made the jump from South Africa to football’s big stage, via the Soccerbeat podcast:
“The players, 18, 19, in general don’t know what you’re talking about. The physicality is not there, the explosiveness is not there, in terms of the conditioning they really suffer.
“That’s the biggest problem, not being prepared at that age, coming from 12-19, it is just not as it should be if you want to have a good player who can compete. I don’t see anything in the near future that will change it,” the German coach predicted from a position of experience.
What has happened to Oscar Cortés shouldn’t put Rangers off signing a relatively untested winger in terms of elite level football.
Mofokeng is in his second year as a senior professional and has cemented himself as his country’s finest talent.
There is a reason why Barcelona want to sign the 20-year old for their B team to see if he can make the leap and why Rangers have been named as an interested party too.
Would a lack of physicality be an issue for Mofokeng?
Physicality might be an issue for Mofokeng, given Rangers’ struggles this season until you take a look across the city.
Jota, Nicolas Khun, Yang Hyun-Jun and Kyogo before his move to Rennes, are all players who would hardly be described as having a physical presence.
What they have though, is pace and technical ability.
If the tactics are right and the players fit, it doesn’t matter if new signings aren’t built like Dujon Sterling.
What matters is that they can make a difference and that they are available more often than they aren’t.
Mofokeng has the potential to do both.
