Rangers fans already have one eye on the January transfer window as Philippe Clement looks for a new striker to salvage the club’s stuttering season.
The pressure is mounting on the Belgian manager as Rangers fall 14 points behind Old Firm rivals Celtic with all eyes on Nils Koppen and co as the club’s rebuild continues apace.
As part of that, plenty expect underachievers like Cyriel Dessers to be moved on from Ibrox with the club needing more consistent returns from those at the top end of the park.
There’s one player in South African striker Iqraam Rayners who is reportedly turning heads in Scotland and who the hitman has now been dropped amid links to Rangers.
Iqraam Rayners to Rangers?
Rangers have been strongly linked with a move Mamelodi Sundowns attacker Iqraam Rayners ahead of the January transfer window.
Reports in South Africa have suggested that Rangers have already made ‘enquiries’ about the 29-year-old frontman, who has an impressive return of 13 goals in 18 games in all competitions this season.
It comes after the South African international striker – who has four goals in ten appearances for the Bafana Bafana – netted 17 times for Stellenbosch in the last campaign.
Branded an ‘excellent finisher’ by Stellenbosch coach Steve Barker, Iqraam Rayners is an old-school centre-forward who knows where the back of the net is.
If Rangers can shift Ligue 1-linked Cyriel Dessers off the club’s books this January this looks like a potentially promising deal but there are a number of moving pieces.
Not least the fact Mamelodi Sundowns will reportedly demand around £2.4m from Rangers to sign Rayners, with the striker only just moving to the South African side in the summer.
Manager explains dropping Rangers target
Mamelodi Sundowns manager Miguel Cardoso has also been explaining why he has dropped Iqraam Rayners amid those links to Rangers.
The big striker had scored in six consecutive matches for the South African Premier Soccer League side and the decision to drop Rayners for the 2-0 win over Richards Bay turned heads in the country.
Speaking to Sports Wire after the match, Cordova explained that the hectic schedule was the main reason for resting his star striker.
It’s an excuse Rangers fans are very familiar with themselves, with Philippe Clement defending his decision to rest several key players in the 2-2 draw with Motherwell.
“We have to deal with the conditions. The coach, as they say in England, is a manager,” said Cardoso.
“It means that we manage the group. Not only the emotions, the phycological state. But in terms of what is their condition, I have good people around me that also advises and makes my assessment clear of the condition of the players at the moment.
“We knew this was the first game for Grant Kekana and he would not last long. We also knew it would be difficult for Terrence Mashego and he suffered in the last 10 minutes.
“The substitution that I decided to do didn’t allow me to keep on Terrence because naturally, Terrence and Grant, these are the players we were going to substitute and it was planned like that.
“But games have to be won and sometimes you need to risk. On the case of Terrence, we had to risk. But I think we got good answers on the players that played.
“Most of all, we had good commitment.”
