If Jack Butland was Rangers signing of the summer, Abdallah Sima can’t be far behind him.
The 22-year old has been in fine form since moving to Ibrox and, after starting slowly, has emerged as a key player in Gers boss Philippe Clement’s squad.
An African Cup of Nations absence has become an injury enforced absence but this has done nothing to quell the growing support for Rangers to attempt to sign Abdallah Sima on a permanent deal – with his agent giving how his client feels away via The Rangers Review.
Rangers hold all the cards to make Abdallah Sima deal
Given his age and profile, Sima has all the tools needed to make it at the highest level, it’s a shame that he won’t get a chance at AFCON to play for his country but his time will come for Senegal.
With 15 goals in 33 games, only James Tavernier has scored more goals as the Brighton loanee has set about showing the number nines how to find the back of the net.
There are elements of his game that need to be improved and he can, regularly, give the ball away or fail to take advantage of good opportunities, however, he has also been our most reliable and consistent goalscorer.
Speaking in Senegal, Sima’s agent Bathie Toure has some good news for fans:
“Abdallah Sima is good at Rangers and wants to continue there. He likes the atmosphere at the club and wants to continue to evolve as a player.
“Abdallah is currently the most exciting young Senegalese player. He is a hard worker and has been looked after well in his career.
“At the moment, he is happy because he is playing every week at Rangers. He feels comfortable there and it is definitely his wish to stay.
“We will see what happens at the end of his loan.”
If a loan player is in form, it is a lot easier to persuade them to stay.
Unsuccessful spells at Stoke City and Angers in Ligue 1 saw doubts about his potential being realised only for his Rangers form to prove that he can be a key player.
With one year left on his contract at Brighton, he is unlikely to want to extend given that they have sent him out on loan three times with not many chances to impress on the south coast.
Philippe Clement also seems to be the sort of manager that players love playing for, hopefully, finances don’t dictate that this season is the last that we see of Sima.
