Rangers’ new technical director Nils Koppen didn’t have it all his own way in the summer transfer window.
Then the Rangers director of recruitment, the ex-PSV transfer chief has now been in charge for two windows as the Gers try to desperately install a functional player trading model.
With the likes of Kris Boyd raising doubts about Koppen’s promotion, the pressure is certainly on the Belgian to deliver in terms of both successful incomings and outgoings.
But this summer’s transfer window proved to be a big challenge for Rangers who lost out on a number of top talents.
Amongst them includes Abdallah Sima – the Brighton star having spent last season on loan at Ibrox – who has just bounced back from another serious injury in France.
Rangers tried to sign Abdallah Sima
After Rangers failed to reach the Champions League group stages, the transfer of Abdallah Sima to Ligue 1 Brest happened pretty quickly.
The 23-year-old joined the surprise Champions League package on a season-long loan deal with Brighton keeping close tabs on how Sima progresses this season.
Rangers might’ve hoped to strike a similar agreement but missed out on a place in European football’s elite competition.
Nils Koppen then claimed that Rangers did try to sign Sima this summer, and appeared to agree a fee with Brighton, but Sima’s demands were much higher than the Gers were willing to pay.
The Premier League side spent around £6m to bring Sima to the south coast in 2022 but the ex-Slavia Prague attacker has spent the entire time out on loan.
“The impression was that we weren’t going to go back for Sima, but that’s not the case,” said Koppen.
“We made an effort to bring Sima back to Glasgow permanently with a good offer, a higher fee than the one we agreed for Oscar Cortes.
“We tried to convince the player and the agent but the numbers were unrealistic so we pushed back on it.”
Ibrox transfer target makes scoring return from injruy
The situation did lead to some criticism in Rangers circles, with Abdallah Sima one of the club’s biggest offensive contributors last season.
But at the same time the striker suffered a devastating three-month hamstring injury at AFCON whilst training with Senegal.
The problem decimated Sima’s season in Glasgow and had a huge bearing on the Gers’ success, the club sorely missing the attacker at a crucial moment of the campaign.
Whilst signing Sima permanently was certainly an attractive prospect, the length and impact of the injury would’ve been in the back of the minds of Rangers supporters.
And not without good reason.
After Sima started Brest’s Champions League campaign on blistering form, the forward found himself sidelined with yet another muscle injury.
Missing five Ligue 1 matches and the Champions League win over Sparta Prague, Sima returned from the bench in ahead of November’s international break.
Sima then went on to score for Brest on his return to the starting XI in the weekend’s 3-2 defeat to Philippe Clement’s old side AS Monaco.
