Rangers fans had to do a double take as the club were linked to Adama Traore this week.
The name is most associated with explosive former Barcelona winger Adama Traore, who Rangers fans will know most prominently from his Premier League stints with Wolves and now Fulham.
The notion Rangers would sign such a player, the rapid attacker still very much an active member of the squad at Craven Cottage, seemed fanciful.
And well, that’s because it is.
Whilst the idea we could sign a La Masía youth product is a nice one, it’s a different Adama Traore that’s been making transfer headlines in Glasgow this week.
Rangers to face Traore competition
Ferencvaros winger Adama Traore is a 28-year-old Malian international with explosive pace to burn.
In fact, with the attacker as fast as PSG star Kylian Mbappe, Rangers are reportedly in the market for the forward as he enters the final year of his contract in Hungary.
Very much the finished article, the 54-times capped Mali winger does differ from the types of player who have been linked to Rangers ahead of a big summer rebuild.
But it’s a link which will excite Ibrox fans, who want to see more quality at the top end of the park next season.
Having netted nine times for the Mali national team, the attacker has 14 goals for Ferencvaros this season alone as the Hungarians were crowned runaway league champions.
Now, one report has claimed it will cost Rangers a cool £3.5m to take Adama Traore to Ibrox this summer.
The Scottish Sun are also claiming that Rangers aren’t the only side interested in acquiring the player with Premier League club Fulham ready to confuse their supporters with a summer swoop.
Rangers ‘need experience in the building’
The links to Adama Traore are certainly in keeping with some transfer comments from Philippe Clement this week.
The Rangers manager was clear that in order to overcome the superior transfer budget of Celtic in the title race, the club will need to be ‘inventive’ in the transfer market.
With the Gers eyeing the perfect blend of experience and talent, Traore certainly fits the profile of an older player with a proven track record of winning who can come in and contribute straight away.
As quoted by the Daily Record, Clement said: “We know we have less money than our competition because they have more money and they have Champions League money now. So we need to be more inventive, the recruitment needs to be more inventive.
“If your opponent has more money and can spend more you have to work better. That needs to be the challenge to make things better. We have to find better players for cheaper prices. It’s not always the player that costs more who at the end has the highest value. It’s challenging. The bigger the pool is where you can take the best fish out.
“Our pool is smaller, so you have to be sharper. But it’s not just for that department, it’s for everything. It’s for the technical staff, the medical staff, the performance staff, for recruitment. It’s for everybody in the building. We need to work better, all of us, to make the next steps.”
Later, the Rangers manager added: “We need to now create more stability in the club, create another model of recruitment. We’ve talked about that. You’ve seen it already in the January window. With no cash to spend, we still brought in young talented players.
“Mohamed Diomande has proven that he has potential to grow for the future. Oscar Cortes also. Fabio Silva with ups and downs and also not playing in his best position – but we need to continue in that way of recruiting. But we also need to keep as much experience in the building.”
