Rangers rebuild maybe wasn’t quite what some hd in mind as Philippe Clement worked with one hand tied behind his back to reduce the wage bill.
Not only that, but the manager had to replace a raft of players who left at the end of their contracts leaving the squad short of options.
As the Premier Sports Cup display against Dundee in the Ibrox homecoming showed though, Rangers have managed to acquire a few bargains with Jefte fast becoming a fans favourite.
Jefte impresses as he nails down Rangers place
One of the qualities that the 20-year old Brazilian possesses that has caught the eye is his seemingly endless energy.
A quality noticed by Kevin Thomson of Rangers TV co-commentary that saw him joke after the game:
“Jefte motm, some engine the lad has, think he might still be running the now!!!!”
Signed from Fluminense for £800,000, Jefte is beginning to look like a bargain and Ridva Yilmaz has a real fight on his hands to get his starting jersey back.
When you consider the fee paid for Jefte and the £5m deal for Ridvan Yilmaz – £3.5m upfront – it serves as a further reminder that shopping smarter is always a better strategy than spending more money.
It’s early days, but Jefte is proof of a player trading model that could be a success with Philippe Clement keen to see a similar profile to the dynamic left-back:
“Yeah of course and we wanted him already in January. And he wanted to come also. But at that moment it was stopped by his team. But we stayed in touch all these months. And he showed also a real desire to come. And to fight for that.
“Yeah of course I said it so many times already. It was the end of a cycle. We had a lot of players in the squad who were over their best period.
“We had seven players going out of the building for free. Or could go out for free.
“There were some we wanted to keep but they could earn much more money somewhere else. So they made that choice. So it was a hard way to start a rebuild. And it just started that way.
“We could not do everything in one window. But it’s good now that people start to see the young talented players who came in. That they have the quality now or for the future for sure to become important players.”
Jefte showing that there are bargains to be had
Sometimes, through necessity, focus is sharpened, knowing that mistakes can’t be made.
After missing out on Jefte in the January window, it always seemed likely that a summer move would be rekindled with Borna Barisic leaving at the end of his contract.
Jefte hasn’t just stepped into the Croatian’s boots, he’s shown that he has more to his game than just being able to throw a good cross into the box.
He was involved in two of the goals against Dundee, releasing Nedim Bajrami twice to get Rangers in behind.
Not only this, but he mixed up his crossing and link up play with Bajrami and Oscar Cortés.
Rangers fans can accept when players have an off day if they don’t shirk the hard work.
As Thomson says though, Jefte has the graft to go with the ability.
