Rangers face an uphill battle to qualify for the group stages of the Champions League, the money on offer meaning that results are almost irrelevant if they make it through.
Philippe Clement has demanded more players to give him and his squad half a chance and, with Ibrox still out of commission, everything should be done to mitigate this disadvantage.
The Rangers manager is no stranger to the continent’s elite competition and knows that reinforcements are crucial as time ticks by.
Rangers learn Champions League fate as transfer clock ticks down
The draw has been reasonably kind with Partizan Belgrade and Dynamo Kyiv the potential opponents for the third qualifying round.
This doesn’t take away from the fact that the Light Blues badly need players.
How long do they have to get new faces through the door though.
The initial squad for the third qualifying round is the 1st of August.
This can be updated for the play-off round, should Rangers be successful, with another fortnight allowed to register any new signings.
The next deadline after this is the 3rd of September, just after when the European transfer window closes with no further changes allowed until after the completion of the new style league phase with the final cut-off being the 6th of February.
Rangers current transfer position is a strange one, almost in a state of flux.
Philippe Clement has hinted that players have been identified, spoken to and have agreed to join Rangers verbally but there is one small and well publicised problem, clarified, again, by Alex Rae after the friendly against Man Utd:
“I think there’s a couple of areas where we’d like to bring players in, but as the manager has said, I think we have to get some players going out first and foremost.
“And again, that’ll reflect on who goes out the door. Until we get that, we’ll have to prioritise when who actually leaves.”
The possible exits needed for Rangers to clear space
The situation is that James Tavernier and Connor Goldson seem the most likely to leave first.
Tavernier has interest from Turkey, England and Saudi Arabia whilst Goldson has been spotted travelling to Cyprus for a medical.
Both should bring in decent fees and remove a significant wedge off the wage bill.
Todd Cantwell is also said to be attracting interest from Saudi Arabia with Sam Lammers reportedly turning down NEC Nijmegen because he has agreed terms elsewhere.
The clock is ticking but it looks like all the stars are starting to align as Rangers bid to join the stars on Europe’s biggest stage.
