Rangers’ globetrotting approach to the transfer market continues.
The Glasgow giants have already ticked off South America (Jefte Vital), Europe (Clinton Nsiala and Oscar Cortes), and they are now shifting their focus to North Africa.
According to reports, Rangers fourth summer signing is increasingly likely to be a versatile young forward who scored seven goals and set up six more last season, with a bargain of a price-tag standing at less than £2 million.
He might not be the most prolific of forwards but the raw materials are clearly there. Hamza Igamame, still only 21 lest we forget, is tricky, pacey, versatile and all-action. Whether drifting in off the flank or battling with centre-halves in the centre – spinning away, nutmegging unsuspecting defenders before lining up a shot at goal – Igamame is precisely the kind of developing, work-in-progress sort of talent Rangers are prioritising these days.
Rangers can land Hamza Igamame for just £1.7m
“The young players in Morocco are very instinctive in the way they play,” Mark Wotte, who coached Igamame for the nation’s youth team, tells the Daily Record. “There is a lot of young talent but most of them look to move abroad as soon as they get the chance.
“Hamza was a little younger when I was there so I wasn’t too aware of him. But there is a lot of talk about him.
“He’s playing at a good club as they have been strong in the last couple of seasons. Hamza has also been part of the Under-23s and Olympic team so it’s clear he has talent. And a lot of potential.
“The big thing for him will be adapting to Scottish football. It’s an entirely different environment.”
Igamame won the Moroccan top flight with RAF Rabat in 2023 as well as the Under 23 African Cup of Nations. Wotte beleives that the step up from Rabat to Rangers isn’t necessarily one that would the adaptable frontman could not handle, feeling that both leagues are relatively similar in terms of their quality.
Fourth new signing at Ibrox this summer?
“I’d say the Moroccan top division is perhaps on the same level as the Premiership’s bottom six,” adds Wotte, who had a brief spell in the Southampton dugout 15 years ago.
“There is clearly a lot of talent in the country. Look at the team that got to the World Cup semi-finals in Qatar. A lot of that side were with me in the Under-23s and it was incredible seeing them step up on that stage.
“Most of those players play for clubs outside Morocco and it will be good for Hamza’s development to perform at a big club like Rangers.
“It’s not an easy move to make. It’s a very different style of football than he is used to. It can be fast and furious. But Hamza is young and will be keen to learn. It’s an exciting move for him.”
According to the Daily Record, Rangers will pay just £1.7 million for Igamame.
There is also interest in Rapid Bucharest striker Albion Rrahmani, though things do not appear to have progressed nearly a week since repors from Romania claimed that a potential £5 million agreement was ‘very close’.
