Rangers needed to acquire extra goals in the summer but with Danilo and Cyriel Dessers already at the club, Philippe Clement was never going to be allowed to break the bank for a new number nine.
Instead, the manager brought in highly rated Moroccan youngster Hamza Igamane who, after a frustrating start, finally has his Ibrox career up and running.
A debut in an Old Firm derby isn’t for the feint hearted and yet Igamane took it in his stride in a position where former Rangers playmaker Graham Dorrans believes his future could lie.
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Hamza Igamane tipped to make Rangers impact out wide
The 21-year old striker made his first start against Hibernian at the weekend but was unlucky to see his teammates struggle to create any real openings for him.
One effort from outside of the box was set up nicely with a perfect first touch only to let the adrenaline get the better of him and fire over the bar.
What was noticeable, was how often Igamane would drift into wider areas looking to get involved, in an almost identical way to which Alfredo Morelos used to.
The difference is, Morelos was playing with two number 10s at the peak of his powers whereas Igamane is already supported by two wingers.
Despite the limited minutes, Dorrans has seen enough to suggest that the former AS FAR prodigy could soon be playing with Danilo and Dessers rarther than rotating with them:
“The youngster Igamane coming in. He has made a few substitute appearances in the last few weeks”, Dorrans said on the Scottish Football Podcast about the Light Blues attacker.
“He has looked decent.
“He is strong in stature, he has technically looked well, but today probably he starved a little bit of service as well.
“And to be honest I do not think he is a number 9, he is more of a wide player, coming in off the wide areas.”
Dorrans could be right as door opens for Igamane experiment
Clement likes his wingers to play on the opposite side to their “stronger” foot.
It’s a small sample size, however, against Dundee United, Igamane showed that he can hold the ball up and hold off physical defenders.
A team can never have too many goal scorers in it, and it may be that the Gers boss decides to utilise Igamane on the left so that he can get more minutes to accelerate his development.
With Rabbi Matondo and Oscar Cortes both out injured, the timing couldn’t be better to give Igamane a run in the team.
