Kemar Roofe, Tom Lawrence, John Souttar, Rabbi Matondo and, to a lesser extent, Borna Barisic and John Lundstram have altered the summer window plans, after all four of the first returned fresh, fit, and in most cases, bang in form, while the latter two Barisic and Lundstram, appear to have regained a bit of impetus.
This has absolutely altered Rangers’ transfer window, with four players now fully back and fit and starting to form a major part of the squad going forward, while Lundstram and Barisic have both recently regained a great big chunk of form, the latter especially having a strong game v PSV against both Bakayoko and Teze.
Which means Rangers now have millions of pounds of talent on our hands effectively for ‘free’, and almost all of it is hitting a good stage of form – this similarly means making new signings in those areas becomes much lower priorities, and indeed, another one who came back fit, Ianis Hagi, had to be shipped out because he’s surplus now.
What had the plan been? We desperately needed new defenders and better attackers – we have signed £15M of attackers with mixed results, but even though the form of the group up front isn’t the best, we are scoring, we are assisting, and we’re getting results.
At the back, the full return of a completely-fit John Souttar has been a marvellous signing – the Scotland international is like a completely new player, and has instantly won fans over in their droves. He’s recognised by many as our best defender.
However, the addition of Leon Balogun is excellent depth, even if we’d maybe prefer he and Souttar together, while ex-Chelsea man Dujon Sterling offers depth for James Tavernier.
But it’s that 6-man group we mentioned at the start that seems to have changed Rangers’ ambitions in the window.
Other than perhaps one more alpha CB, the return/renaissance of Lawrence, Matondo, Roofe, Souttar, Barisic and Lundstram has altered the club plans and given Michael Beale a far stronger squad to choose from without spending a penny.
Amazing the impact Dr Waller has made, isn’t it?