Rangers could miss out on one potential managerial target with former Monaco and Club Brugge coach Philippe Clement in talks to join Al Shabab in Saudi Arabia.
While Frank Lampard, Kjetil Knutsen, Pascal Jansen, John Eustace, Kevin Muscat and co remain on a Rangers’ longlist that would make the Bayeux Tapestry look like an A5 pamphlet, the number of potential Mick Beale replacements could be about to get that little bit shorter.
According to The Telegraph, Philippe Clement is under consideration at Ibrox.
Rangers eye Philippe Clement as new manager
The unattached 49-year-old made his name as both a player and a coach at Club Brugge, guiding the blue-and-black-clad club to successive Jupiler League titles in 2020 and 2021 while winning the Belgian Best Coach of the Year award on two occasions.
Clement then took Monaco to a third-place finish in France’s top flight in 2022, losing his job the following year following a downturn in results.
But, while things turned sour for Clement in the Principality, the one-time Coventry City defender would still be viewed as something of a coup for Rangers, particularly given his title-winning pedigree and the presence of a genuine European powerhouse in Monaco on his CV.
“His teams play with great intensity and daring, including on the European stage,” former Monaco, Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur director Paul Mitchell said of Clement.
“His ability to combine titles and the development of young players have made him one of the most prominent and successful coaches in Europe in recent years.”
Talks over Saudi Arabia move start
Rangers Review reported, following Beale’s sacking, that the Glasgow giants are in no rush to hire a replacement. That, however, could prove to be their undoing in pursuit of Clement. FootMercato in France are claiming that talks between the Belgian and Saudi Arabian outfit Al Shabab are already underway.
Rangers, then, are in danger of being left behind. Negotiations with a deep-pocketed, Middle Eastern outfit potentially forcing CEO James Bisgrove into a decision he may have preferred to defer until Rangers have more time to weigh up the pros and cons of their many candidates.
Rangers would understandably be unable to match the funds available to Clement at Al Shabab.
