Rangers rebuild after the Steven Gerrard era has left Philippe Clement with a sizeable task on his hand.
The summer transfer window didn’t quite go to plan as the manager put together a younger looking squad with the hope that they will bring money and trophies into Ibrox.
Clement, with Nils Koppen’s help, managed to move on the likes of Sam Lammers and Todd Cantwell, but could another £4m signing who made the move to Glasgow see his days in the Old Firm goldfish bowl numbered?
Celtic struggler Luis Palma could have been starring for Rangers
Michael Beale was given a lot of money to spend in terms of modern day, Rangers transfer budgets.
A near £14m was spent on Lammers, Cyriel Dessers and Danilo alone – all of whom have had their qualities questioned.
It was the former who was the first to arrive in the summer of 2023, but it could so nearly have been Luis Palma, who now cuts a frustrated figure at Celtic.
Heart and Hand, the biggest Rangers podcast and who were frequently at the front of the queue during Beale’s tenure in terms of transfer news, revealed that Palma was a potential target:
“I do think the interest is real in Palma.
“I do think there is something is there.
“As I’ve mentioned before my belief and understanding is that Rangers are going to spend money this summer and if there is a big signing of £5m and upwards, it will be a forward player because you need to.”
The 16-cap Honduras international’s one start, against Falkirk in the Premier Sports Cup, is not what he would have been expecting despite posting good numbers last term.
Now, Palma’s dad, Don, has claimed that social media reports about his son’s discipline being the cause of his absence from international duty are wide of the mark, as reported by The Sun:
“That is false. You should not pay attention to anything that appears on social media because a lot of it is false.
“Luis made the decision to withdraw and everything is fine.
“He is with Celtic right now and he will focus on being there until the end of the year.
“There may be a transfer, but what happens with him depends on his work.”
“We have to remember the other players in the team are doing very well.
“It’s just a matter of working hard to get the manager’s trust again and that is his mentality. He has to show the way.”
Were Rangers right to pull the plug on Palma deal?
Rangers fans would be more than happy with a winger who had double digits for goals and assists last season, even if his work rate was questionable.
Palma was used to being the star man but is now miles down the pecking order.
At Rangers, he’d almost be guaranteed to start given the current situation with injuries.
What is certain, is that Celtic’s recruitment model and success in selling players across the border means that they can absorb the odd loss, Rangers, on the other hand, are nowhere near that level yet.
The frustration, is that Oscar Cortés was signed on a loan with an obligation to buy, and a fee said to be in the region of £4m.
The hope being that he can contribute to the first team now, be developed and sold at a profit.
The 20-year old Colombian has plenty of time to fulfil his potential, however, he has struggled to get into double figures for appearances, never mind goals.
What is clear, in the short term, is that Rangers would have been better off signing Luis Palma.
Long term, Cortes is the one with the higher ceiling but he’ll need to stay fit to reach it.
