Oscar Cortes has (almost) officially departed Rangers for Sporting Gijon on loan. The move closes the door on a disastrous spell at Ibrox that was ruined by injury and poor management, as Rangers Review confirmed. The Colombian never looked like making the grade in Scotland and his signing goes down as one of the club’s worst in recent years. Rangers fans will not mourn his exit as the costly gamble has backfired spectacularly. Oscar Cortes leaves Rangers for Sporting Gijon.
A dire signing from the start
Cortes arrived from Lens without a single senior match under his belt. That fact alone should have set alarm bells ringing but Rangers pressed ahead regardless. Former recruitment chief Nils Koppen sanctioned a ridiculous loan with obligation to buy and the club wasted £4.5M as a result, as Ibrox Noise pointed out. It was a reckless piece of business that highlighted the lack of due diligence inside the scouting department. Supporters were baffled then and they remain angry now.
Mismanagement under Clement
Philippe Clement did Cortes no favours during his spell as manager. The Belgian threw him into action when he was not ready and repeatedly aggravated the player’s injuries. The decision to play him on Kilmarnock’s notorious plastic pitch stands out as one of the most foolish calls in recent Rangers history. Instead of protecting a fragile asset Clement piled on the pressure and cost the club even more, with Ibrox Noise slamming the decision. Fans still shake their heads at that level of carelessness.
Exit brings closure
The move to Sporting Gijon ends a saga Rangers supporters want to forget. Cortes never showed enough to justify the hype and injuries wrecked any chance of progress. The blame lies with both recruitment and management who combined to produce a complete fiasco. Spending £4.5M on a kid who had never played for Lens was madness and the outcome was sadly inevitable, as another Ibrox Noise article argued. Rangers now draw a line under this farce and move forward without him.
For a club chasing trophies every season mistakes of this magnitude cannot continue. Wasting millions on hopeless gambles puts Rangers at a disadvantage against rivals who spend smarter. Supporters demand better from those in charge of recruitment and player welfare. The Cortes deal will serve as a grim reminder of what happens when corners are cut and pressure outweighs patience.
Rangers have shed another failed experiment and fans can now focus on those willing and able to contribute. Sporting Gijon inherit the problem but Rangers have at least cleared space in the squad. Oscar Cortes leaves Rangers for Sporting Gijon. This chapter ends in failure and stands as one of the most disappointing transfers in modern times.