Big things were expected of Nils Koppen in his first summer transfer window at Rangers.
The ex-PSV recruitment guru has come into Ibrox with a clear mandate to transform the club’s underachieving squad into a team of winners.
At the same time, the Belgian is expected to kickstart a player trading model which – but for a few flutters of transfer activity – has existed in theory only in Glasgow’s south side.
Alongside Philippe Clement, a newly established Rangers recruitment board have been hard at work trying to deliver as fan frustration bubbles in the background.
But things haven’t quite gone to plan to do date with the Rangers squad looking decidedly incomplete with the big kick off this season just five days away.
Now, Koppen, Clement and the Rangers recruitment board have been left red-faced once again as yet another high profile pursuit ends in disappointment.
Jordan deal collapses
Sevilla midfielder Joan Jordan was – quite clearly – a key Rangers target heading into this crucial period of the window.
The 30-year-old Spaniard has been deemed surplus to requirements as the La Liga side go through an overhaul similar to that currently happening at Ibrox.
An aggressive yet technical midfielder with big experience at the Seville side – including two Europa League winners medals – it looked a solid deal from a Rangers perspective.
After having an initial approach turned down, reports over the weekend suggested that Rangers had finally agreed a deal with Sevilla over Jordan’s transfer.
The issue? The midfielder himself wasn’t sold on a move to Glasgow.
Now, the Rangers Review and Herald & Times journalist Chris Jack is reporting that the game is officially a bogey.
Whilst the report doesn’t go into details about why Rangers have quite suddenly gave up on a deal for Jordan, Jack claims Clement and by proxy Koppen will move onto the other targets.
Quite simply, the journalist explains Joan Jordan will “not be making the move to Ibrox and that the deal will not go any further”.
Sound familiar?
Fourth public Rangers transfer pursuit fails
Cast your mind back to the start of the summer and you will remember Rangers’ very public pursuit of Panamanian defender Jose Cordoba.
The Levski Sofia star had been given the Ibrox treatment at the end of last season with Rangers said to be sizing up a deal somewhere in the region of £3m.
But Rangers suddenly pulled the plug on the Cordoba deal and then the Copa America star rocked up at Norwich City.
Then there was the curious case of Yusuf Kabadayi, a player who Chris Jack had ‘expected’ to sign for Rangers back in June.
A product of Bayern’s youth academy, there was substantial interest in the 20-year-old around Europe and it eventually told in the end.
Kabadayi moved to Augsburg and yet another high-profile Rangers pursuit ended without reward.
Finally, there was the situation with Scotland international midfielder Kenny McLean.
Journalist Jonny McFarlane had claimed that the a Rangers deal for McLean was ‘in the post’ this summer.
The Norwich City star’s agent then laughed off claims a deal had fallen apart over the length of the contract on the table, resulting in yet more chatter around a transfer.
But any Rangers interest was ended by McLean himself, who claimed he was committed to Norwich as he turned out for the club in pre-season.
Now, an apparent alternative in Joan Jordan is the last public pursuit to fall apart and Rangers fans are left scratching their heads over the club’s business this summer.
Naturally, a lack of business and the consistent collapse of high profile deals will have fans asking if our targets have been realistic.
Some might argue that this is just the way of things in a summer window and that the club will already be negotiating with alternatives.
But with plenty of inconsistency at Ibrox as of late, this repeated failure to land public transfer targets is just another stick to beat the club’s flapping leadership with.
With the Gers crying out for experience in the middle of the park, ex-Rangers midfielder John Fleck is back at Auchenhowie.
