Rangers are leaving it late to get the players in that they need to give Philippe Clement the sort of hand needed to bring success to the club.
The manager probably hasn’t been as busy as he anticipated, however, speculation has ramped up in recent days about potential arrivals.
One name that caught the eye is former £10m defender Stanley N’Soki who Rangers are said to be keen on bringing in on loan.
According to Scott Burns of The Daily Record, it looks like being a rumour that is short lived with the 25-year old France Under-21 international “likely” to move to Lille on a permanent deal.
Rangers dealt Stanley N’Soki transfer blow
Rangers need for a centre-half has increased with Ben Davies’ departure to Birmingham City who also look like adding Scott Wright to their ranks too.
Add Todd Cantwell agreeing terms to join Blackburn Rovers and Rangers are three players short in defence, attacking midfield and on the wing.
Clement has cut a frustrated figure for most of the summer having to deal with selling players before he could bring others in.
He has also had to manage Cantwell’s transfer request and the Ianis Hagi departure saga too.
With the clock ticking fast until the deadline shuts on the 30th of August at 11pm, Nils Koppen has his work cut out to bring in the players that Clement needs.
Rangers boss has faced uphill battle in transfer window
As the Gers boss said earlier in the window, it’s one thing identifying players, it’s another entirely to bring them into the club:
“We’ve been looking at a lot of players, had a lot of talks, some deals we could do, some we could not. Everybody is working hard on that.
“We’re not where we want to be at the end of the August but I don’t think that’s the case for any team in the world.
“We work hard with the players who are in the building to be ready for the first game and then we will see. I know for fans you think everything is possible at the moment but that’s not the reality.
“I think the most important thing is that everybody is aligned about the plans, the board, the recruitment staff, me. Not only short term but also long term.”
Rangers have clearly had players lined up all summer as they wait for those who have been deemed surplus to requirements to move on.
Unfortunately for Clement, they are leaving with just a matter of hours left in the window.
What this has done, is give targets like N’Soki time to speak to other clubs or like Albion Rrahmani to join Sparta Prague and fire them in the Champions League.
Things haven’t quite got worse before they will get better, but the scale of the task faced by Clement this summer meant that it was never all going to be plain sailing.
