Philippe Clement admits he wanted Lyall Cameron in the door right NOW – but his asking price was too high.
The Dundee midfielder is heading for Rangers in the summer after the clubs announced that a pre-contract had been reached. But his boss in waiting Clement wanted him to head for Govan much sooner and had hoped to have him at his disposal for the second part of the season alongside solo January recruit Rafael Fernandes.
However, the Light Blues have been forced to wait with the Belgian admitting an early switch was ‘not possible’ as he put it down to a ‘financial decision’ between the two clubs. Addressing the media ahead of the Scottish Cup clash with Queen’s Park at Ibrox on Sunday, he said: “At the end, that’s a financial decision. We all wanted him to come as fast as possible, but it was not possible. So we need to wait a few months longer.”
On the transfer front, the Ibrox men have managed to delay forking out for Oscar Cortes until the end of the season after bringing him back in on loan this term. But there are already fans questioning the decision to sign the Colombian wideman permanently from parent club Lens given his nightmare injury record.
The 21-year-old has managed just 14 appearances since arriving 12 months ago and his latest knock means he will not feature in the remainder of Gers’ Europa League push, with his boss confirming he is still set for a ‘few weeks’ more on the sidelines.
But Clement is convinced Cortes will prove to be good value for money. He said: “Yes, a fit Oscar has proven that. So, it’s about us as a club getting him fit again. He’s still a young player. So, for sure he will do that in the future.”
Speaking about his squad in general ahead of the weekend, Danilo and Cortes will both miss out. But the Belgian is looking forward to having a stronger squad and more options in the coming weeks.
He added: “We have a few ones who will come back short term. Like I said, Danilo will be back next week. I expect a week after Dujon Sterling and Leon Balogun to be back. Ridvan Yilmaz is back already in training. Leon King is also back in training after his concussion.”