It was all calm and no chaos for Rangers as what promised to be a frenzied transfer window went out with a light flicker.
There had been talk of a full-scale January overhaul early in the month, when results had hit the skids and an injury crisis left Philippe Clement playing Dujon Sterling at centre-back and Ridvan Yilmaz on the right hand side. But even when things were at their most manic, the tone from CEO Patrick Stewart was that it would be a subdued window – promising the club would only spring into life if specific opportunities presented themselves.
One of them did with Lille defender Rafael Fernandes who comes in to fill what has been a problem position at the centre of defence. So far, he’s not really been needed – his arrival coming at a time when John Souttar is returning from injury and Clinton Nsiala promises to come onto a game. But while the 22-year-old is only on loan, there’s a feeling it was a signing with one eye on the future. The club do, after all, hold an option to buy, should he impress Clement between now and May.
Building for the future has been the party line running through the club since the transition into new leadership took hold and the same can be seen in the arrival of Lyall Cameron. He’s signed a pre-contract agreement from Dundee but the move will have to wait until the summer, when he’s expected to join for a compensation fee in the region of £400,000. On the surface, an astute bit of business – he’s averaged exactly a goal every four games from midfield throughout his 108 appearances for Dundee, and has been directly involved (8G 7A) in 15 already this season.
Both of those signings are under 23 and, should all go to plan with their development, be sellable assets for the club in years to come. In other words, it’s two steps towards restoring the recruitment model that has fallen by the wayside and left the club haemorrhaging cash in their annual accounts.
Arguably the central tenet of that, as things stand, is Hamza Igamane. And keeping hold of him this month may be as important as any signing Clement could have hoped to have made. It may be that his explosion on to the scene is simply too fresh for top clubs to take a major look at him just yet, but he’s well clear of double figures already despite taking a period to settle in at the start of the season.
He’s hit 13 goals – one for every 131 minutes of football he has played – and if that strike rate keeps up then there will be cash on the table for the 22-year-old come the summer. As Record Sport columnist Barry Ferguson says, fans should enjoy him while it lasts.
Ridvan Yilmaz looked like one who may have been heading for the exit but once again interest from Turkey came to nothing, and he’s staying put to battle with Jefte for the left-back berth. His exit would have been a headache Clement didn’t need. The same, really, could be said for Cyriel Dessers, in whom there was plenty of interest. He’ll remain as an enigmatic backup option until the summer at least, and while fans may have been eager to see him replaced with a more reliable option, you’d be surprised if he doesn’t come up with another big moment or two between now and the end of the season.
The exits that did eventually come to pass, in Kieran Dowell (Birmingham) and Rabbi Matondo (Hannover), although only on loan, ultimately cut around £50,000 a week from the Ibrox wage bill. And while the club had hoped to give Clement the option to reinvest that in the squad, the decision was taken that the right options just weren’t there.
The one fans perhaps didn’t want to see go was teenager Zak Lovelace, who showed significant early promise, but in the end just couldn’t muscle his way to the front of the queue. Despite Rangers offering him renewed terms, he’s heading back to Millwall for a fee which could rise to seven figures. He may come to be viewed as one who slipped through the cracks – but in the end it’s the story of a young man who struggled with injuries, couldn’t make the breakthrough, and is understandably keen to head back home.
So where does it all leave Rangers after a January that promised a full-blown Royal Rumble of comings and goings descended into a bit of light sparring? Short-term, they’ve trimmed the wage bill and left Clement with a leaner squad, while addressing one position which was a glaring problem.
Longer-term, it looks like a couple of small steps in the right direction – although fans will still have wanted that winger which was mooted. However, trimming the squad is always what was on the board’s agenda ahead of what could be a massive summer of change.
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