Rangers have suffered another absolutely brutal blow in what is rapidly becoming a nightmare summer at Ibrox. Couhaib Driouech looked set to become the quality left winger this Rangers squad desperately needed. Rangers had agreed personal terms and a fee of around £6.5M to £7M with PSV Eindhoven. He even watched Thursday night’s Europa League disaster from the Ibrox stands. However, the whole thing has now collapsed amid concerns about his immediate fitness. For Rangers, the Couhaib Driouech transfer collapse could scarcely have arrived at a worse moment.
Rangers desperately needed this winger
This one hurts because Ibrox Noise genuinely believed Driouech might solve a major Rangers problem.
The Moroccan is primarily a left winger, although he can operate on either side. More importantly, he actually possesses quality and European pedigree.
Driouech has played Champions League football for PSV and scored against Arsenal and Liverpool. Therefore, Rangers were not gambling £7M on another obscure project player.
Instead, this looked like a proper Rangers signing.
After watching so much mediocrity arrive at Ibrox, supporters finally had reason to feel some optimism. Driouech offered pace, directness and actual end product.
Unfortunately, Rangers now find themselves right back where they started.
Medical concerns kill Rangers deal
Initial Scottish reports claimed an injury emerged during the medical and Rangers consequently pulled out. However, Dutch reporting subsequently offered a slightly different explanation.
That version claims Driouech actually passed the long term medical assessment. Instead, Rangers and PSV disagreed over how quickly he could become available for selection.
Either way, Rangers clearly saw enough concern to abandon a major investment.
That makes the Couhaib Driouech transfer collapse even more frustrating. Rangers had already agreed the fundamentals and brought the player over.
Then everything fell apart at the finishing line.
Ibrox needs genuine attacking quality
Rangers cannot simply shrug this one off and move onto another average winger.
Derek McInnes desperately needs quality. Moreover, this Rangers attack has already demonstrated how badly it lacks creativity, penetration and consistent threat.
Driouech appeared capable of providing those qualities.
Indeed, Rangers pursued him persistently after PSV rejected previous approaches. Therefore, the Ibrox recruitment department clearly regarded him as an important target.
Now they need an alternative of comparable quality.
That is the difficult part.
Rangers cannot respond by grabbing whichever winger happens to become available before the window closes. This squad already contains enough compromises.
Rangers must find another solution
The Couhaib Driouech transfer collapse therefore represents dire news for Rangers.
Of course, Rangers absolutely made the correct decision if they held serious concerns about his immediate availability. Spending around £7M on another injured player would border on insanity.
However, that does not make losing Driouech any less painful.
Ibrox Noise thought this might finally be the quality left winger Rangers needed.
Instead, he returns to PSV and Rangers return to the transfer market.
After everything else that has gone wrong this season, that feels depressingly appropriate.