Rangers’ Jekyll and Hyde season continues.
Domestically, the Light Blues have very little to play for, languishing 13 points adrift run-away Premiership leaders Celtic, despite being unbeaten in nine league matches, most recently battling to a 3-1 victory over Hearts at Tynecastle on Sunday.
Meanwhile, they’re seemingly set for a trophyless season, having been beaten in December’s League Cup Final on penalties, before ignominiously exiting the Scottish Cup at the hands of Queen’s Park, a monumental and historic shock.
However, in the Europa League, Philippe Clement’s team impressively secured a top eight finish, so will now face one of Bodø/Glimt, Anderlecht, Fenerbahçe or Twente in the round of 16, with the first leg on the road coming up on 6 March.
So, while this has largely been a campaign to forget, a few more memorable European nights at Ibrox could be on the cards and, if Rangers are going to make progress in the Europa League, they’ll need their superstar striker to be on top form.
Rangers' search for a striker
Rangers’ top-scoring attacker of the post-liquidation era, by quite some distance, is Alfredo Morelos, who scored 124 goals in 269 appearances for the club, averaging a goal every 152 minutes.
33 of the Colombian’s goals came in UEFA competitions, becoming the Gers’ record European scorer, smashing the previous record set by Ally McCoist of 21, who didn’t mind too much, saying “I hope he hangs around and continues his goalscoring form… it would be great”.
However, Morelos didn’t hang around for too much longer, departing on a Bosman in May 2023, signing for Brasileirão outfit Santos, currently on loan at Atlético Nacional, and the Gers have found him a difficult figure to replace.
The summer of Morelos’ departure, Rangers spent big to fill his void, signing both Cyriel Dessers for £4.5m, as well as Danilo for a reported fee of £6m.
Fair to say, neither have lived up to the billing, with Mark Walker of the National describing Dessers as a ‘flop’, while Graeme Young of the Daily Record notes that Danilo ‘has been reduced to fleeting appearances’ due to persistent injury setbacks.
So, let’s assess their respective Rangers careers so far.
Statistics
Dessers
Danilo
Appearances
93
38
Minutes
5,534
1,730
Goals
40
12
Minutes per goal
138
144
Assists
15
8
Goals – xG
+0.4
-0.6
Big chances missed
44
15
Shots on target %
46.2%
50%
Matches missed due to injury
Zero
60
As the table outlines, neither Dessers nor Danilo have had catastrophically disastrous Rangers careers, both averaging a goal roughly every 140 minutes on the park.
That though has been exactly the problem for Danilo, sitting out 60 of the 101 matches Rangers have played since the start of last season due to injury, thereby unable to contribute.
Meantime, the most glaring statistic for Dessers is the fact he has missed 44 Opta defined big chances since the start of last season, a remarkably high number.
In this year’s Europa League, of all 670 players who’ve had at least one shot, the Nigerian striker has the second-lowest goals – xG figure of -3, above only his compatriot Victor Osimhen for this metric, with the Galatasaray attacker having attempted a whopping 25 more shots.
Interestingly, the player top of this very same metric is also a Rangers player, so could he be Clement’s saviour in front of goal?
Rangers have struck gold with "jackpot transfer"
After these two not-so-good centre-forward signings the season before, few had high hopes when Rangers acquired Hamza Igamane for a reported fee of £1.7m last summer, arriving from AS FAR of Morocco’s top division.
However, Anthony Evans of the Daily Record notes that the 22-year-old has ‘been in red-hot form this season’, scoring 13 goals in all competitions, four of which have come in the Europa League, as well as a hat-trick against Hibs at Easter Road.
Meantime, Keith Jackson also of the Daily Record, labels him a ‘superstar’, while Matthew Elder of the Scotsman believes he has been the Premiership’s ‘signing of the season’.
Joining for £1.7m as mentioned, CIES Football Observatory believe he is now worth more than £13m, representing a 664% increase in value, while it was reported in January that Rangers had set a £25m price tag on Igamane, amidst interest from Everton.
That valuation is more than justified considering he has shown himself to be a “completely unpredictable” and exciting talent, as per analyst Ben Mattinson, with it certainly looking like a “jackpot transfer” for the Light Blues, in the words of talent scout Jacek Kulig.
Market Movers
So, while Danilo and Dessers may be flops, Igamane could represent a huge return on investment, potentially yielding Rangers’ club-record sale, currently held by Calvin Bassey’s £19.6m move to Ajax.
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