Rangers left-backs both past and present have hit the headlines over the last few days, for a variety of different reasons.
Over in Spain, Borna Barisic’s Leganes debut could hardly have gone worse. The Croatian, signed in a winter deal from Trabzonspor, ruptured his cruciate ligaments mere minutes into his La Liga bow and faces a race against time if he is to return before the end of the calendar year.
A few weeks after he switched off in the build up to Bruno Fernandes’ stoppage-time heartbreaker at Old Trafford, meanwhile, Jefte was blamed again as Queen’s Park stunned Rangers in one of the biggest Scottish Cup upsets of modern times.
As for the man Jefte is currently keeping out of the starting XI, Ridvan Yilmaz committed his future to Rangers while simultaneously turning his nose up at a return to Turkish football.
Yilmaz has become a key player for Philippe Clement this season, largely thanks to a new-found versatile streak which has seen him fill in on the right-hand side and also further forward in a more attacking role.
This time last year, however, the jury was very much out on the £3.5 million acquisition from Besiktas. In the same period, Rangers attempted to bring in Jefte months before a deal was finally agreed with Fluminense, a loan spell at APOEL Nicosia forcing the Glasgow giants to wait until the summer.
To think, had Rangers succeeded in signing Anass Salah-Eddine from Ajax back in January 2024, Jefte might never have arrived at Ibrox.
Rangers considered new Roma man Anass Salah-Eddine
Netherlands Under-23 international Salah-Eddine ended up staying put in Dutch football rather than boarding a flight to Glasgow. He would join FC Twente instead, that very same window.
A decision justified when the Enschede outfit finished third in the Eredivisie table, offering up the opportunity for the Amsterdam-born 23-year-old to make his mark on the European stage.
Twente may have had to settle for a play-off place while Rangers beat Union Saint-Gilloise to fasttrack themselves into the last-16, but Salah-Eddine’s eye-catching displays against the likes of Manchester United, Lazio and Fenerbahce did not go unnoticed.
One year after Salah-Eddine registered on Rangers’ radar, a graduate of the fabled Ajax academy put pen to paper with Italian giants AS Roma in a deal which could rise to over £8 million.
While Rangers look to establish themselves as a stable stepping stone for ambitious young players with eyes on the pinnacle of the European game – see Jefte, Hamza Igamane, Clinton Nsiala and more – Salah-Eddine has arguably cut out the middle man even if a Roma side sitting ninth in Serie A are not quite the force of old.
“This is a really big club,” Salah-Eddine said during his official unveiling at the Stadio Olimpico. “I’m happy to be here.
“I think Serie A is the championship where you defend best. I have many years to improve and I want to do it.”
Rangers currently have three former FC Twente players
Rangers and FC Twente have found themselves strangely intertwined of late, and not just because Joseph Oosting’s team are one of four potential opponents in the Europa League’s last-16.
Rangers signed Robin Propper from Twente last summer. Vaclav Cerny and Danilo formed a ‘sensational’ partnership in Enschede and are now reunited at Ibrox. Meanwhile, Sam Lammers, the £3 million Gers flop, leads the line for Oosting these days.
But with Salah-Eddine making the leap to Roma in the space of just 12 months, even if Rangers are forced into the market for a left-back again with Jefte reportedly on Chelsea’s radar, the chances of a fourth former FC Twente player donning that blue shirt appear to have come to an end.
“Everything happened very quickly,” Twente director Arnold Bruggink explains when detailing how Salah-Eddine’s Giallorrosi switch came about. “Sometimes an offer arrives that, as a club, you simply cannot refuse.
“Anass grew exceptionally last season and it is precisely this growth that led to the transfer. It is a great recognition for our work that a Twente player can join a prestigious club like Roma.
“We wish him much success in his new adventure in Italy.”
