With just three wins in seven games, Glasgow Rangers have already been knocked out of the Champions League while trailing in the Premiership title race.
It is clear Philippe Clement had a lot to ponder during the recent international break. How can the Ibrox side improve, however? That is the key question that the majority of supporters will be asking as the domestic season makes a return this week.
After just a few weeks of the new season, only a couple of the summer signings had made much of an impact, showcasing how poor the transfer window was for the Light Blues.
Clement is short in several departments, which could have been solved by moving on those seeking an exit faster and trying to add key targets earlier in the window.
Of course, a few players looked as though they were on the way to signing for the Gers, until changing their minds and moving elsewhere, which was obviously disappointing.
The players Rangers missed out on this summer
Not long after the campaign ended, Rangers were showing plenty of interest in centre-back Jose Córdoba as Clement aimed to bolster his defence ahead of the new season.
Reportedly, the defender signed a preliminary contract with the Light Blues as it looked as though the first signing of what could be an important summer was going ahead.
A few days later, however, it emerged that the club had pulled out of a move for the Panama international before he moved to the English Championship, joining Norwich City.
The chance to potentially play in the Premier League while earning a bigger wage was an obvious incentive for the player, things which Rangers couldn’t offer.
Albion Rrahmani was another target that the Ibrox side missed out on this summer. The striker had a price tag of £5m set by his club side in order for any team to sign their prized asset, but this clearly became a stumbling block for the Gers.
No bid was made by Clement, and Rrahmani soon moved to Sparta Prague for a fee in the region of £4.25m, suggesting that the club should have sent in a tempting offer to see what might have happened.
These two players could well have slotted into the starting XI with ease and perhaps ensured the club started the season in a livelier fashion.
Clement isn’t the only manager of the club to miss out on players who were either key targets or those who went on to bigger and better things after Rangers were linked.
Indeed, someone who was linked last year has now been nominated for the Ballon d’Or this year – Cole Palmer.
When Rangers missed out on Cole Palmer
Michael Beale took charge of the Light Blues following the sacking of Giovanni Van Bronckhorst in November 2023 and enjoyed a decent start to his time in charge.
The Englishman won nine of his first ten matches in charge as he eyed silverware in order to salvage something from the season.
Hibs (H)
Rangers won 3-2
Aberdeen (A)
Rangers won 3-2
Ross County (A)
Rangers won 1-0
Motherwell (H)
Rangers won 3-0
Celtic (H)
2-2 draw
Dundee United (A)
Rangers won 2-0
Aberdeen (N)
Rangers won 2-1
Kilmarnock (A)
Rangers won 3-2
St Johnstone (A)
Rangers won 1-0
St Johnstone (H)
Rangers won 2-0
With the January transfer window open, Beale eyed reinforcements, eventually ending the month having brought Todd Cantwell and Nicolas Raskin to Scotland.
Prior to the window closing, the Gers were also eyeing up a loan move for Cole Palmer, as the Manchester City youngster was looking for regular game time.
According to the Sun, the club had a loan bid rejected by Man City in order to bring Palmer north of the border for the second half of the campaign, as Pep Guardiola claimed the attacker had a part to play as City were chasing a treble of the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League.
There is no doubt he would have improved the starting XI and Palmer is now one of the finest players on the planet.
Cole Palmer’s statistics at Chelsea
Despite Palmer playing a part in winning all three trophies for City, he surprisingly joined Chelsea last summer for £40m, which has since turned into one of the biggest bargains.
Throughout the 2023/24 campaign, the Englishman scored 25 goals and registered 15 assists in all competitions for the Blues, a record that saw him nominated for the Ballon d'Or.
When compared to his positional peers in Europe’s top five leagues, Palmer ranked in the top 1% for assists per 90 (0.48), the top 6% for shot-creating actions (5.70) and total shots (3.45) per 90 and in the top 8% for non-penalty goals (0.44) per 90, clearly flourishing at Chelsea after being given a starring role in the team.
These displays led to Gareth Southgate calling him up to the England squad for the 2024 European Championship, where he scored a stunning equaliser in the final against Spain.
Although England would lose the game, Palmer returned to Chelsea full of confidence, already scoring once and grabbing four assists in just three Premier League matches.
The “elegant” starlet – as so dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig – has since seen his market value increase exponentially due to his productive start to life as a Chelsea player.
According to Transfermarkt, Palmer is now currently valued at £67m, which represents a massive leap considering they only paid £40m for him just over a year ago, the same summer Rangers wanted him on loan.
Enzo Maresca would be able to land a substantial profit should the youngster seek a move away in the near future, although it is clear Chelsea will be determined to keep him for as long as possible.
Beale certainly chanced his luck in trying to get the sensation on a loan deal at the start of last year, and he would have thrived in Scotland, no doubt about it.
Even though it would only have been a loan deal, the club must rue not getting a move over the line, especially with how the Gers performed between January and May that season.
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