Philippe Clement will have to do a bit of wheeler dealing in the summer if he is to start next season with a Rangers team in his own mould.
The Gers boss has shown that the squad isn’t entirely broken, however, there are a few issues that he needs to rectify.
The forward line will see a few changes with players who are out of contract or at the end of their loan deals leaving but there are solutions that Philippe Clement could implement for Rangers without breaking the bank.
Lawrence Shankland swap deal makes sense for Rangers
In an ideal world, the gaffer would probably want to keep Oscar Cortes and Abdallah Sima, if finances allow.
Kemar Roofe has already been linked with a move away from Ibrox and Scott Wright just hasn’t done enough to prove that he can be a valuable contributor at the sharp end of the pitch.
The other player whose future is uncertain is Sam Lammers.
Rangers were said to be looking for £2.5m for the on-loan forward, but the way he has gone about his business at Utrecht suggests that we might even be able to get our money back.
He’s got 10 goal contributions in 13 games playing as a central striker in a remarkable turnaround and these are the sort of numbers that will attract attention, especially in the Eredivisie.
With Ianis Hagi set to return to Rangers and Todd Cantwell and Tom Lawrence in situ, the last thing that Clement needs is another number 10.
Danilo and Cyriel Dessers can both score goals and offer different styles of play but neither would be considered as natural goalscorers.
If Rangers can get in the region of £3m for Lammers and the money we paid for him, there would be no better place to spend it, and probably get change, than on Lawrence Shankland.
With just a year of his contract left, Hearts should be easier to deal with and they will already have European football secured unless something incredible happens post-split.
The Hearts skipper would compliment the two forwards that we already have and, over the course of a season, there would be plenty of game time to go around.
Yes, Shankland will be 29 at the beginning of next season but it’s not like he has pace to lose or has had a lot of injuries in his career.
Playing for Rangers, most of his work would be done in the width of the goals where he is at his best.
Rangers need to address home grown squad problem
Clement is fully aware of the need for homegrown players after having to promote Cole McKinnon for the Europa League ties against Benfica:
“It is important for Scottish football also to give chances to young Scottish players and let them grow.
“We need to look into that for our European squad because we missed several players in this squad because we did not have enough Scottish players on the list or we need to buy them – but we maybe need our money for other things.
“Or we need to build them ourselves over the next couple of years and that is one of my objectives, to get players out of the academy who can grow to become Rangers first XI players. ”
If Rangers can sell Lammers and sign Lawrence Shankland whilst making a bob or two, it is a piece of business that makes sense on, and off the pitch.
