The revolving door at Ibrox has been so busy this summer it’s in danger of spinning off its axis. With 10 departures and six new arrivals so far, it’s been another pre-season of upheaval in Govan as Rangers begin work on their latest rebuild.
This time Derek McInnes is the man overseeing the project and the former Hearts gaffer has wasted little time tearing apart the squad he inherited from Danny Rohl. The leadership group led by James Tavernier and Jack Butland has been dispensed with, while six loanees have been sent back to their parent clubs. Vice-captain John Souttar could be next to leave with a string of Championship clubs down south trailing the Scotland centre-back. Danilo is also on his way to Botafogo.
Arriving in their place so far have come Lawrence Shankland, Dan Neil, Ben Godfrey, Ross McCrorie, Cammy Devlin and goalkeeper Ivor Pandur. Partizan Belgrade skipper Vanja Dragojevic will be the seventh fresh face to sign on when he completes a £4.6million switch from Serbia.
Left-back priority
Tuur Rommens wasted little time establishing himself as a fans’ favourite last season but the departures of Jayden Meghoma and Derek Cornelius means the Belgian defender is the only recognised senior left-back on the books. Finding someone to compete with the January recruit from Westerlo will be a priority before the season gets underway at Dundee United a week on Friday.
Record Sport revealed back in December that Gers were tracking AEK Athens defender James Penrice and the former Hearts stopper’s name has continued to swirl around Ibrox in the months since. Don’t be surprised if he ends up back in Glasgow.
Centre-back depth concerns
McInnes will be hoping to get Godfrey back to the kind of form that once saw the then Everton defender win a couple of England caps. But the Ibrox manager is also well aware of his lack of depth in the centre of his backline. At present, he only has Manny Fernandez, Godfrey, Souttar and Clinton Nsiala available - with the latter two likely to be moving on.
With right-back Dujon Sterling able to cover in the middle, a left-sided centre-back is the priority position needing filled in the first instance but longer term Gers chiefs know they will need far greater depth to see them through a gruelling campaign.
Central midfield surplus and creativity gap
Once Dragojevic signs on, McInnes be looking at a list of ELEVEN men who can fill the central midfield slots. Clearly that is far too many and players will need to depart. Jose Cifuentes, Nedim Bajrami and Lyall Cameron are the leading candidates to be moved on, while Connor Barron may also be starting to fear for his future at the club having seen Neil, Devlin and Dragojevic all arrive to compete for a slot in his favoured role in front of the back four.
But while McInnes has plenty of defensive options for the engine room, he’s shy on men who can make a difference in the final third. Thelo Aasgaard has returned from the World Cup having bagged a group-stage goal against semi-finalists France - yet the Norwegian hardly lit up the Premiership during his first season in Scotland. The Ibrox faithful had been hoping to see his compatriot Jens Hjerto-Dahl arrive from Tromso but as Record Sport revealed last week, Gers’ hopes of signing the £8.5million playmaker are fading amid interest from Cardiff.
But McInnes has told recruitment chief Dan Purdy and chief exec Jim Gillespie that finding someone to provide a goalscoring presence in midfield is essential this summer. However, that may have to wait until Nico Raskin’s future is sorted, with the Light Blues hierarchy hoping to raise substantial sums following the Belgium midfielder’s impressive showing at the World Cup.
Wide options need upgrade
Up front, McInnes and his recruitment team are happy with their central striking options following the arrival of Shankland. That might change if mega bids arrive for Youssef Chermiti. Lyon have already had a sniff around the Portuguese ace but baulked at Rangers’ £20million-plus valuation of the 22-year-old.
Instead, Rangers will look to ramp up their attacking output by upgrading their wide options. There is an acknowledgement inside Ibrox that the likes of Djeidi Gassama, Oliver Antman and Ross McCausland aren’t going to cut it if McInnes’ men are to compete for honours and so a significant increase in quality will be required. The Ibrox fanbase would love to see Spurs kid Mikey Moore return for a second loan stint. The odds on that remain slim and even if it were to happen, Moore’s comeback would not take place until the final few days of the window.
But with substantial sums still available to be spent this summer, Gers will look to invest heavily in attacking wide options and give McInnes the weapons he is looking for.
