With Abdallah Sima now back at Brighton for pre-season, it is looking very unlikely that the Senegal winger will return to Rangers, with the Seagulls seeking to maximise their return on the £7M investment on the attacker.

Presented with their circa £15M-£20M valuation of Sima’s price tag, Rangers fans point out he is now in the last year of his contract.

Problem there is twofold – that didn’t stop Bayern spending £120M on Harry Kane, and secondly Brighton tend to get their players to sign lucrative new deals towards the end of their existing ones, and then sell at premium price, as they did with both Caicedo and Mac Allister.

Either way, Rangers, even in the last year of his deal, are likely to be priced out of any permanent contract.

But the bottom line is it’s redundant – Sima spent a hell of a lot of his season being injured, and for all the talented goalscoring he has in his locker, it’s as a false nine, a false winger cutting in, not being marked and finding the net with more ease than someone who is marked.

Ask James Tavernier.

And we still fundamentally cannot sign players who have major injury issues.

The club have learned this and despite it being heavily on Philippe Clement, Rangers winger Oscar Cortes’ injury was a lesson and he is now back on a season-long loan with obligation to buy.

But Sima, even at the season’s end, was still technically injured, still recovering, and we cannot make permanent any deal with such a player who can’t be relied on.

Rangers literally just released two players with endemic injury issues in Ryan Jack and Kemar Roofe, two great players but who simply weren’t ever available.

To sign Sima but release them would be a heck of a slap in the face for both, that the club dumped them because they’re never available but made Sima permanent at high cost despite him also having massive injury issues.

No, this is a deal that shouldn’t be done, especially at the high cost it is likely to set Rangers back, despite his expiring Brighton contract.

Even for a ‘modest’ £3M we’d think very much twice about making him a permanent deal.

We don’t have money to waste on sicknotes.

And there’s one more thing too – Brighton are getting a new manager (unknown who at this point), who will clean slate the squad and potentially give Sima another crack at the club. He will be clinging onto that hope of a fresh start in the Premier League.

Either way, Rangers need to check out of this one.