Philippe Clement will have to do things the hard way if he is going to successfully rebuild Rangers.
The manager saw his side fall to Dynamo Kyiv in the Champions League qualifying round, losing out on a potential £40m windfall in the process. A figure the Gers boss himself alluded to.
With no bonus of reaching the play-off round to soften the blow, any new additions will have to hit the ground running with no space for punts or project signings.
Rangers target Mahamadou Diarra has Serie A striker profile
One player who falls into this category is Mahamadou Diarra, the 20-year old striker who has been linked with a move to Ibrox.
Rangers are said to have held talks with the promising striker’s agent with a fee in the region of £1.7m reportedly the valuation Tirol are looking for.
Despite his age and experience , Diarra has an encouraging profile and, statistically, draws similarities with Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic, a player linked to Real Madrid only last year with a £68m price tag mooted.
The powerful forward is keen to fire his club back to the top of Serie A and Italian football dominance:
“We are certainly starting a new cycle, we have many young players. We will aim for the title even if I don’t know if we will win the Scudetto next year . As for the Coppa Italia, we are all very happy. It was our goal together with returning to the Champions League. We are satisfied because we achieved it”.
The comparison model provided by Data MB shows that Diarra has the physicality needed for the Scottish game, should Rangers follow up their interest.
Rangers desperately need more firepower in final third
As seen against Dynamo, Rangers need depth in the attacking area of the squad.
Danilo is still struggling to get up to speed and Hamza Igamane is only just in full training having been short of the fitness levels required when he arrived.
Successful Rangers teams of the past always had a group of strikers and it makes sense for Philippe Clement to look to add a fourth.
Vlahovic is a powerful, target man type striker who can also score goals.
Diarra might be in the early stages of his career but the comparison is a positive one.
The fact that the Mali Under-23 international is only in the early stages of his career is positive too because he should be on an upward curve in terms of development.
