Rangers have a few holes left to fill before fans can be truly comfortable with facing the Champions League qualifiers.
Partizan Belgrade or Dynamo Kyiv await after a reasonably favourable draw with Philippe Clement hoping to strengthen to give his squad the best possible chance.
One of the two main transfer priorities for Rangers must be a new right-winger with one long-term target well known to the manager considered.
Rangers continue to look for wingers amid Francis Amuzu news
A few names have come and gone so far in this window.
Yusuf Kabadayi opted to stay in the Bundesliga despite a move to Ibrox being all but confirmed by some reliable sources.
Adama Traore emerged early doors as being in “advanced talks” but there hasn’t been so much as a sniff recently in terms of new details over a potential deal.
It is the same with Luca Langoni after being “approached” by Rangers in January.
The rumour mill has gone quiet.
One player who was once linked on a regular basis, was Francis Amuzu.
A goal-scoring flying-machine capable of playing on either flank.
A player who Vincent Kompany was a big fan of when he was in charge of The Royals:
“I think Francis can bring a lot to our team.
“I know there is no unanimity about that boy but as a trainer, I will stay calm with that.
“Francis is making progress and always offers something. The competition will only make him better.”
Amuzu suffers injury blow as doubts about future continue
With just a year left on his contract and only 24-years old, Amuzu ticks a lot of boxes in terms of Nils Koppen’s player trading model.
He will be a player that Rangers recruitment director and the manager will be aware of from their respective spells in Belgium.
Unfortunately for Amuzu, it looks like he will be staying in Anderlecht after an untimely knee injury in a pre-season friendly.
After initial fears that he had ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament, the speedster has ‘only’ damaged his mensicus cartilage – months become weeks in terms of rehabilitation.
For comparison, with Rangers still holding out hope of re-signing Abdallah Sima, Data MB has provided an example of how similar the two wingers are.
Sima performs better in terms of assists and key passes, however, on almost every other metric, it is Amuzu who comes out on top.
He is more of a traditional winger than the wide forward that is Sima.
In an ideal world, Rangers could sign both to play on opposite flanks and to rotate with Oscar Cortes, who seems worryingly isolated in terms of quality options.
Amuzu’s name might yet be on a list of possible targets, but the last thing Rangers need is another injured player or signing one who can’t make an impact straight away.
