Rangers saw two wide players leave in the summer in Ryan Kent and Fashion Sakala but nobody was brought in to replace them, although, Luca Langoni was a real consideration.
Abdallah Sima signed on loan but was pencilled in to play centrally initially by Michael Beale but it seems that the former Gers boss also tried to add the Argentinian youngster to his squad.
Writing on X, Mark Hendry of Football Scotland has revealed just how close a deal for the Boca Juniors winger was and why Rangers didn’t sign Luca Langoni, who an approach has reportedly been made for.
How close Rangers came to signing Luca Langoni
Every signing has an element of risk attached to it and for all that the 21-year old has been highly rated for a few seasons now, the amount of games that he has missed with repeated hamstring injuries is a concern.
This sort of gamble can be justified, potentially, with a Bosman signing but, when you see how much Boca were asking for, it’s easy to see why we walked away.
Cyriel Dessers has a respectable, if not spectacular, return and he has been under fire for not taking more of the chances that he has been presented with.
And he “only” cost £4.5m.
Had Rangers been determined to land Luca Langoni, the talented forward would have set Beale back a hefty £10m, most of his summer budget.
Could he have been clever and replaced Sam Lammers and Cyriel Dessers with free transfers to make room in his budget?
Probably.
There were certainly enough number nines going about in Josh Maja, Michael Olunga and Jean-Philippe Krasso, all of whom could easily have replicated Dessers’ output, if not bettered it.
When every penny is a prisoner, a £10m signing has to guarantee goals and assists and be available every week – not just have potential.
It’s easy to see why we moved on but, therein lies the problem, we didn’t.
Why didn’t we sign any wingers to replace Kent and Sakala?
We are now in a position where Philippe Clement is having to make do with three wingers in his squad who have a combined tally of seven first-team goals in the last two seasons.
Hardly title winning numbers.
The board made a mistake in the January of 2022, they can’t make the same one again.
