Rangers are likely to sign Abdallah Sima permanently for a knock-down price after Brighton deemed the Senegalese international surplus.
The 22-year-old striker doesn’t fit into Brighton’s usual mould of bringing in a player, sending out on loan, preparing for the first team, shining, then selling at a huge profit, ala Moses Caicedo and Mac Alister among others.
Instead, Sima struggled at all his loans until Rangers, and Brighton chiefs have accepted a small loss on this one meaning Rangers are likely to get him for sub-£5M.
It is viewed that because Brighton’s incredible trading model has made them a swathe of cash in recent seasons (around £250M in just 18 months) they are magnanimous about this deal and are accepting that they can lose a couple of million or more on Sima.
Sima isn’t Premier League level, he hasn’t lived up to that quality, but he’s been a great goalscorer for Rangers and that’s what the club wants from him.
He’s also settled in Scotland now, is a new father, and ‘shlepping’ his family all the way back south would be far from ideal, so Sima would be as happy to remain in Govan as the club would be to keep him.
There’s also another excellent caveat – as of next summer Sima will have only 12 months left on his Brighton deal, meaning his value plummets anyway regardless of anything else, meaning Rangers could get him for half of his market value, hinting at a £3.5M deal to bring him to Govan permanently.
Brighton aren’t bothered by this one, it’s a deal which didn’t work out for them, one in a million, and given Rangers’ relationship with Brighton has been enhanced by this loan and their employment of David Weir, we can see this deal being sealed quite quickly.
More as we get it.