Steven Gerrard signed 15 new players in the Summer. One third of them were on loan.
Lassana Coulibaly, Ryan Kent, Ovie Ejaria, Joe Worrall and Umar Sadiq have all walked through the famous gates at Ibrox.
Some have made faster impressions than others. All of them – except for the rarely played Sadiq – have looked like smart, if short-term, acquisitions.
But of the five, there’s probably only two Rangers can realistically keep in the long term.
Lassana Coulibaly and Ryan Kent realistic targets for Gerrard
Lassana Coulibaly has slotted back into the Rangers team very easily. There’s been no disruption to the flow of the squad since he came back from the injury suffered against St. Mirren at the start of August.
The big Malian is pivotal for Gerrard. Not only is he an athletic and physical presence, but he is nimble and creative on the ball. Since he’s returned he’s had a little more freedom, and there’s so much more to come from him.
Being an Angers player, Rangers could tempt the French club with the right offer. The fans the prospect of silverware and Europe will tempt the Malian.
The creative Kent has come on leaps and bounds since the international break. It feels like the tricky little winger has really settled and he is a dangerous option for Rangers. He plays neat little one twos and is not scared to have a pop.
At 21, he’s still young, but Liverpool has an immense amount of competition across the front three. If he does have to move on, where better than Ibrox?
Two top talents and one yet to prove himself
Of the other three, the only one Rangers fans are really familiar with is Ovie Ejaria.
The creative midfielder has been superb in the middle since joining on loan. But he is immensely highly rated down south. He even signed a new contract at Liverpool before he came up here. We’d maybe get another year, but I can’t see it permanently.
The same goes for Worrall – he’s one of the most highly rated young English centre halves. Forest won’t want him to go anywhere.
Both being young, homegrown English players with plenty of time left on their contracts they’d demand a hefty fee too.
Sadiq – however highly rated in Italy – is yet to make an impression on this Rangers squad. Maybe that’ll change on Wednesday.
What the thoughts of Steven Gerrard?
The Rangers boss would certainly take the four players who’ve broken through into the team.
Steven Gerrard said: “If you’re asking me if I’d want the four of them for next year, I’d sign them right now. We rate them highly.
“In an ideal world, they’d all be on four or five-year deals but unfortunately it doesn’t work like that. We have to be respectful to their parent clubs.”
Talking about whether it’d be possible, Gerrard added: “I’m still in Jurgen Klopp’s good books, so if Liverpool keep winning maybe there’s some scope.”
