Rangers started the January transfer window being linked with one South American talent in need of a fresh start, and ended up landing one of his international team-mates instead.
But while Oscar Cortes has surely done enough – even in his brief, injury-interrupted time at Ibrox – to suggest that Rangers are right to pursue a permanent deal for the RC Lens loanee, it seems there were few such temptations enticing Standard Liege.
Farmed out by Brighton and Hove Albion last summer after falling behind the likes of one-time Gers starlet Billy Gilmour in Roberto de Zerbi’s pecking order, Steven Alzate was supposed to be something of a big fish in a relatively small Belgian pond.
This was, after all, a midfielder who had looked the part under Graham Potter at The Amex. A man who once scored a winner at Liverpool, and came with seven caps for the Colombian national team under his belt.
But after an impressive 2022/23 campaign at Standard Liege, the phrase ‘never go back’ seems apt when discussing Alzate’s ill-fated return to the Stade Maurice Dufrasne.
Rangers overlooked Steven Alzate in January
“Steven Alzate lost (his) influence,” writes Walfoot, the Belgian publication providing a less-than-glowing review of the playmaker’s second stint in Liege. “After the month of January, the former Leyton Orient and Swindon Town no longer showed any desire.
“His performances have only gotten worse. In terms of quality of play, Steven Alzate never regained his level. Very far from there, in fact.
“In two seasons, Steven Alzate will have presented a player with impressive qualities in midfield, with above-average vision of the game. But also a player who will never have shown the right mentality in his second season. A player who stopped fighting.”
Those rather unseemly attributes were never likely to appeal to Philippe Clement, then; Belgian journalist Sacha Tavolieri reporting that Brighton ‘tried to convince’ Rangers to sign Alzate in the January transfer window.
Read more: Rangers confirmed signings, transfers in and out, loan exits, releases for 2023/24
Brighton contract expires this summer
Valued at £7 million not so long ago, Alzate is set to become a free-agent this summer. Brighton’s desire to find a willing buyer, then, was likely drawn out of concerns that a once highly-valued asset could be on his way out of the door for nothing.
Rangers, however, opted to pursue Mohamed Diomande instead. A decision which looks increasingly justified as we approach the final few weeks of an enthralling campaign.
Standard, with three games remaining, took the rather burtal step of cancelling Alzate’s loan deal. That, in itself, speaks volumes about how much use Standard felt they were getting out of the 25-year-old, Alzate having started on the bench in each of the last six games.
Now, with Ryan Jack and John Lundstram entering the final few weeks of their own contracts, Rangers may have jumped at the chance to snap up a player of Alzate’s talents and pedigree at a different stage in his career. Especially on a free transfer.
But with Alzate’s reputation taking quite the hit over in Belgium, his once-promising Brighton career all-but over, and with Rangers holding the option to sign Diomande permanently, Cortes is surely the Colombian Clement must prioritise this summer.
