Brighton won’t take any decision on a permanent Abdallah Sima switch to Rangers until the summer – despite Philippe Clement suggesting the Gers want to move sooner.
Rangers struck a loan deal with Brighton to take Abdallah Sima for the season and the 22-year-old Senegalese attacker has been an impressive addition.
Scoring 15 goals already this campaign, Rangers boss Philippe Clement has previously made clear the club want to make the deal permanent.
But suggestions from the Belgian that those negotiations would be underway before the end of the ex-Slavia Prague forward’s current loan deal appear to have been short-lived.
Brighton will wait to summer with Abdallah Sima
At least that’s according to the Athletic, who have been providing an update on Brighton’s situation ahead of the transfer window and in doing so mention Abdallah Sima.
Claiming that there won’t be any imminent exits from the AMEX, the report insists that things will change in the summer when the club can greater assess its injury-hampered squad.
The situation raised a few Ibrox eyebrows in the week when Brighton recalled Jeremy Sarmiento from WBA, but the winger has since been sent back out on loan to Ipswich Town.
Admitting that the Ibrox side are “keen” to strike a permanent deal for their loan Ranger, it appears Philippe Clement is going to be made to wait.
Brighton paid a reported £7m to sign the striker from Czech outfit Slavia in 2021 but the forward is yet to play for the club, instead spending loan stints at Stoke City, Angers, and now Rangers.
Rangers transfer hunt set to stall
Rangers fans monitoring the situation with Abdallah Sima may well view this latest update as a double-edged sword.
Whilst the report appears to intimate that Brighton could be willing to do business over the striker in the summer, by then Abdallah Sima could have a few more suitors.
Having exploded into life in the Scottish Premiership, Rangers know they have a player of burgeoning talent on their books and Brighton’s recruitment team have proven themselves no mugs in recent seasons.
Couple this with the fact that Abdallah Sima has been called up to the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal and suddenly a perfect storm could rock the Rangers boat.
For the time being however, Sima remains a Ranger and let’s hope the forward can build on the early League Cup and Europa League success this season.
Meanwhile, the Senegal forward isn’t the only Brighton player who is being linked with a permanent move to Rangers as the club look to bolster their squad this January.
