Philippe Clement described himself as a “masochist” when he signed an extension to his Rangers contract, and there couldn’t be a more apt description.
A crippling injury list, a squad that is imbalanced and lacking quality, Ibrox still out of commission and players who need to be sold that nobody wants – the manager would be easily forgiven if he decided that he’d had enough.
Add this to his best number 10, Todd Cantwell, demanding a transfer but nobody offering to sign him and you almost start to feel sorry for the Gers boss.
Rangers could find Todd Cantwell replacement in Petar Pusic
When news broke that Todd Cantwell wasn’t injured but had in fact handed a transfer request to leave Rangers, it seemed inevitable that the 26-year old wouldn’t be long for this parish and that a replacement would be sought.
Instead, with just over a week of the transfer window remaining, he could end up having to swallow his pride, however, this doesn’t mean that Nils Koppen will be resting on his laurels with Petar Pusic of NK Osijek a carbon copy of the playmaker’s profile, according to Data MB.
Rangers have of course dealt with Osijek before.
Successfully for Borna Barisic, not so much for Eros Grezda, a player for whom expectations were high only to end up taking a career break at the age of 29.
Grezda has seven clubs to his name since leaving Rangers in 2020.
Pusic has an almost identical profile to Cantwell in that he links the midfield and the attack.
His key strengths are carrying the ball into the final third to evade pressure and playing key passes to start attacks and to create opportunities.
Exactly the sort of player Rangers need and similar to how Mohamed Diomande played the role against St Johnstone.
Clement working with his hands tied in Rangers rebuild
Philippe Clement has been open throughout the summer about the restrictions he faces at Rangers and, if a player like Pusic is to be signed, Cantwell will have to leave:
“I just want to say, okay, it’s clear for everybody that some players want to go,” said Clement.
“That some players clearly said, been said to months ago before the pre-season started that they would not be part of the project because of circumstances like wages.
“We need to lower the amount of wages. It was too expensive last season for the club. So that’s also one part of the story. So they know, but they’re still here. I cannot do more about that.
“We will see,” said Clement about potential arrivals. “Everybody’s working two weeks really hard to do the right things. I don’t have a crystal ball. I wish I had, but I don’t.”
It has been a strange transfer window across the continent in that teams like Liverpool have made no signings and others at the top end, just one or two.
This filters down the way and clubs with similar budgets to Rangers have been affected.
That Cantwell and Ianis Hagi are openly available, do not demand exorbitant transfer fees but are still at the club tells its own story.
A story that could yet have a twist or two still to come.
