Ex-Brighton assistant Brian Reid has strongly hinted Rangers will be unable to sign Abdallah Sima, due to Brighton’s recruitment policy.
The boyhood Rangers fan, most recently Graham Potter’s assistant at Chelsea, has discussed the Seasiders’ signing policy and why Sima’s current strategy fits into that, giving Rangers no room for manoeuvre regarding signing permanently the Senegal star (there is no option to buy in the loan).
He said:
“As most people know, Brighton’s recruitment policy is based on a points system and Abdallah’s attributes flagged him up to us on that. The plan when he came to the UK was always to put him out on loan to develop and get used to Britain. Even little things like getting better with the language, because his English wasn’t great initially. It was how Brighton operated. Moises Caicedo went out on loan to a team at the bottom of the Belgian league, Beerschot, and he’s just moved for £115million. When Alexis Mac Allister joined, he stayed in Argentina with a couple of clubs before he came to Britain. Abdallah had an injury when he arrived from Slavia Prague and, for a couple of weeks, he wasn’t at his best. You could see the attributes he’s now showing with Rangers. He was quick, strong and could run in behind defences.”
So in short terms, Sima is undergoing the same process as all other recruits at Brighton – they come to the club, immediately go out on loan to develop and learn better – the loan is dependent on the player and their circumstances, as Reid explains.
And Sima is bang on for fulfilling that – is he good enough for the Premier League? Well at the rate of improvement that he’s showing, which is the best run of games he’s had since coming to Brighton, then we couldn’t possibly guess his limits at all.
He’s been, in places, exceptional, and he’s been getting more and more used to the club, the culture, and the style.
And going by Reid’s comments, this is part of Brighton’s strategy for all new signings, meaning Rangers’ chances of getting the boy permanently are zero.
If the ex-assistant is correct, Sima will develop, go back to Brighton, become a big part of their team, then move for a big fat fee to a bigger club.
But that depends on the Senegalese continuing to impress.