Rangers returned to training this week with a few familiar faces returning to fitness as well as new ones joining the group for the first time.
Philippe Clement has added five new signings to replace the five who left at the end of their contracts as the squad rebuild kicks into gear.
Liam Kelly adds experience and knows what the demands of the club are with the manager explaining that he won’t be the only wise head arriving at Rangers this summer.
Philippe Clement reassures Rangers fans on transfer plans
The new players who have arrived all meet a very specific profile.
All of them make sense.
Even others who have been heavily linked like Yusuf Kabadayi, Hamza Igamane, Thomas Galdames and Damian Garcia, tick the same boxes.
Few who have been reported as targets have been at the peak of their careers though.
An issue that Clement, speaking to Rangers TV, has put to bed:
“We had five players going out of the building at end of contract, so we didn’t get any money in, we lost five players.
“But at the moment, we were focussed on everything but it was easier to get the young players in but, as for the transfer window, there will also be experience coming into the building.
“We need a good balance to the squad in the team of both but it was important to find these young talents and they are a few exciting talents for the future.”
Clement knows that he needs to get first-team ready signings
This is the second time that Clement has made this point.
He isn’t stupid and knows that there needs to be a good mix of young and old in the squad.
There are plenty of experienced players already, however, James Tavernier, Connor Goldson, Tom Lawrence, Cyriel Dessers and Ben Davies could all, potentially, leave in this transfer window.
If any of them do, you would expect the manager to be given the funds to replace them on a like-for-like basis given the profile of those already signed.
It’s gone quiet in recent days after the expected arrivals of Barron and Kelly with progress seemingly stalled on Igamane and Kabadayi who appeared to be only the minor details away from being announced.
The door has opened for Albion Rrahmani after Rapid Bucharest signed a new striker and it may be that Philippe Clement gets the £5m striker in next, despite rumours of interest from across the city.
The next arrival be hotly anticipated with fans already hoping that it will be a player who is an upgrade for now, rather than a star of the future.
