So, aside from any impending potential outgoings, what do we rate the end of the transfer window for Rangers? This was an epic one. 14 players signed and 14 players departed. Exactly the same number who came in that went out. Rangers had a lot of work to do to try to thin down the squad, get rid of the bloat and bring in quality. Opinions are very divided over whether the club managed to do that when reviewing Rangers’ transfer window.
Rangers’ transfer window spends £40M
Obviously, the big one that it ended up being, literally, was Kevin Kelsey on the final day of the transfer window. Ditto the surprise addition of Algerian Badredine Bouanani, who came in at the last minute, completely out of the blue, which rather surprised fans. We will have more on that deal in due course. However, overall Rangers have spent £40M. Obviously, two wins in a row in the league have people feeling a little bit better about Rangers’ lot right now. But analysing the overall work done in the window is not the easiest thing to do.
Unfortunately, the big problems were what wasn’t done. Rangers did not properly reinforce the defence, and they also did not secure either of the two prized player assets that they’d wanted to bring in. Those were, of course, Jens Hjerto-Dahl and Lewis Ferguson. Neither midfielder came in, and instead Rangers brought in players who didn’t come with the same level of esteem as those two prized targets.
Reviewing Rangers reshape attack and wings amid
Two strikers were, of course, signed. Let’s not forget that Lawrence Shankland came in during this window. He was added to on the very last day of the window, of course, by Kevin Kelsey. Rangers got rid of Danilo, thank goodness, and have ended up losing out with Youssef Chermiti, thanks to injury. Whereas Bojan Miovski for now remains in Govan. Sadly, so does Ryan Naderi.
Then we come to the wings, of course. On the side we brought in Daisuke Yokota and Kim Min su, not to mention aforementioned Algerian Bouanani. Outgoing was Oliver Antman, and that was that. The rest of the wingers remain for now.
The bulk problem that Rangers have is there isn’t the real sense that the club actually improved its lot despite all the money spent. As we alluded to on Ibrox Noise, it felt more like a sideways pass than a forward one. Deliberately getting rid of Connor Barron and Lyall Cameron felt like backward steps. Neither would necessarily be equated as Barry Fergusons, but the sadness from Rangers fans that two young Scots were being shipped out for very little reason was definitely a big problem.
Rangers’ Midfield remains a major question after transfer window
Not to mention the fact that Cammy Devlin has not started his Rangers career especially well. Rangers fans still don’t know what to make of Vanja Dragojević, with the Serbian as yet making very little impression bar one admittedly brilliant goal.
And then, of course, we have defence. Rangers’ situation there is bewildering. Emmanuel Fernandez remained despite all the hype over a £40M transfer to Borussia Dortmund, Sevilla or Bayer Leverkusen. This was all complete nonsense. It was all driven by clickbait sites, and there was no real interest in him whatsoever.
Alongside him when reviewing Rangers’ transfer window Rangers brought in Olwethu Makhanya, who, to his credit, has actually been not too bad. Ringing endorsement there, of course. However, the John Souttar situation is bewildering, bizarre and surreal. He remains a Ger for now. While we hope that Ben Godfrey can be a bit of a leader at the back as he starts to return, because quite frankly Rangers don’t have any of those in the rearguard.
Reviewing Rangers defence still causes concern
At full back, we lost Tuur Rommens to injury, and it had been perceived that he might even leave, with Brugge keeping a close tab on him. But James Penrice has started life in Govan not too badly, with some mixed results. On the right hand side, of course, the main right back now in theory is new signing Kosta Nedeljković. The problem for him is his starting debut ended up with a diabolical own goal.
Nevertheless, that is the main work that Rangers have done this transfer window, and overall supporters aren’t terribly impressed, if we’re honest. It does feel like an awful lot of chafe and not enough wheat. Put simply, Rangers didn’t really buy or sign players to outright improve the team. Very few players that came in have had a significant impact.
Daisuke Yokota shone against St Mirren, but has rather faded since. Meanwhile, Kim Min su has been the only player to come in this summer who has had an instant impact and maintained it. Fans are impressed with the Korean.
Kevin Kelsey carries a huge price tag
Then there’s Kevin Kelsey, the big £9.5M signing up front. That one is an extraordinary amount of cash to spend on a player whose repertoire and CV doesn’t necessarily justify it. But time will tell. Time will tell how he gets on and just how much of a monster up front he can actually be for the club. We will see.
But overall, we cannot say that this was a particularly good window. We got rid of some players and we signed some players, and there was a lot of work done. But we don’t feel it was a lot of work done that has brought in talent and quality that takes Rangers up any kind of level at all. And we’re not entirely sure that too many would disagree with us on reviewing Rangers’ transfer window.