It’s not constructive to overreact after a single 90-minute match – us football fans and especially us Rangers fans are very guilty of this, given all the false dawns and prophets we’ve suffered since 2012.
But it’s hard not to get a little excited when a player, who’s had a diabolical preseason and seems to be completely underwhelming, is tried in a surprise new position and shines completely there.
Brazilian Jefte, a ‘hefty’ (see what we did there) £750,000 signing from Fluminese, looked completely in his element against the mighty Dynamo Kyiv, a guy only 20-years-old playing at this level for the first time, and bossed it.
His crossing was bang on, he was quick, and he looked completely comfortable up against the second-best side in Ukraine who’d definitively blown away Partizan in the last round.
Now, the last time we got excited by a young winger at Rangers based on potential was our absurd overreaction that we’d just saved £20M by the emergence of Ross McCausland from our youth system, that this kid could be a future £20M winger.
That was premature and approaching a year later McCausland doesn’t even look like a £1M winger yet, never mind 20 times that.
So we’re wary of getting overexcited at something similar happening here.
But there is a key difference – McCausland shone against a diddy team in Cyprus, Aris something in the Europa League…. And v St Johnstone. Not exactly marquee opponents.
Jefte did it against the mighty Kyiv in the Champions League third round. The gulf is huge.
We still say caution – we’re not going to throw a £20M noose around the Brazilian’s neck.
But we do say from what those 45 minutes showed last night, Rangers may well have a complete bargain of a brand new left winger who nearly assisted Cyriel Dessers for a magnificent goal.
Jefte fits the Rangers’ new trading model of the youngster who becomes a valuable asset with impressive performances – turning an unknown kid into a big-money gem.
Let’s hope he stays at LW, continues the progress, and vindicates Rangers’ scouting network on finding him.
Good job.