The acquisition of 49ers Enterprises in the summer was supposed to signal the beginning of a bright new era for the Rangers, but so far that hasn’t played out.
The first big decision was to appoint Russell Martin as manager, but he was in charge for just 123 days and won just five of 17 games before being sacked last month.
There were early signs that his successor, Danny Rolle, was gradually starting to turn things around, with Sunday’s third successive league win against Dundee, but Ger’s side have had a nightmare start to the season, leaving them languishing in fourth place, 12 points behind leaders Hearts.
Whoever the manager is, Rangers need to improve their recruitment if they are to regain their first Premiership title since 2021 anytime soon.
Too much money has been wasted in the transfer market, much of it in the summer, when they spent nearly £30m on 13 new players, but little has been achieved as the team’s form deteriorated significantly.
However, it is clear that there is a front-runner for the club’s biggest waste award these days, but it hasn’t gone as planned.
Rangers attacking options compared to 2024/25
Rangers boasted a truly formidable front three last season, all of whom were allowed to leave during the summer.
Václav Černý did not return after his loan spell from Wolfsburg expired, instead moving to Besiktas.
Meanwhile, Hamza Igamane was sold to Lille for £10.4m and Cyriel Dessers left for Greece, joining Panathinaikos for an estimated transfer fee of around £3.5m.
The table below shows how prolific this trio was last season.
Rangers top scorer 2024/25 | ||
|---|---|---|
Appearance | the goal | assist |
Cyriel Dessers | ||
55 | 29 | 7 |
Václav Cerny | ||
52 | 18 | 9 |
Hamza Igmane | ||
46 | 16 | 3 |
% of total target | 55% | |
European target percentage | 70% | |
Statistics via Transfermarkt | ||
As noted in the table, this departing trio scored 55% of the 115 goals Rangers scored in all competitions last season, and also scored 14 of the 20 goals scored in Europe, helping the Gers reach the Europa League quarter-finals.
As such, Cerny, Dessers and Igamane have always been a difficult trio to follow, and although Rangers spent around £16m on the new quartet to make that happen, their attacking options have arguably been weakened.
To be fair, Jaydee Gassama is not quite at Cerny’s level at the moment, but he did look very bright at the weekend, scoring his sixth goal of the season, while Oliver Antman has done little since then, despite a brilliant debut.
In terms of pure centre-forwards, Bojan Miovski, who arrived from Girona for £2.6m, has yet to regain the form he showed at Aberdeen, while the signing of Youssef Cermiti remains puzzling.
After the Portuguese striker failed to score a single goal in two seasons at Everton, Kevin Thelwell, who had originally brought him to Merseyside, decided to sign him again, agreeing to pay the Toffees £8 million, which could rise to £10 million with add-ons, making him the second richest signing in the club’s history after Torre Andre Flo in 2000.
Chelmiti opened his account for Rangers in Rolle’s first Premiership game against Kilmarnock, but has squandered a number of bright chances and many have concluded he is not worth the huge investment.
But while Rohr should see something from the 21-year-old considering he has started four of the last five games, the jury is still out on Celmiti, rather than believing they are on the proverbial break.
At least the striker is starting regularly and contributing as such. The same cannot be said for another big-money contract, saving him from the worst honors of an undesirable recent deal where there was clearly only one winner.
Rangers’ worst value for money contract
Óscar Cortés was the first player to officially join Rangers this summer, but has been a forgotten man as he has been on loan at the club since February 1st.
When he first arrived in Glasgow he caused a lot of excitement. He was one of the best players at the U-20 World Cup in the summer of 2023, scoring four goals and providing two assists as Colombia advanced to the quarter-finals, winning the Bronze Boot. Scout Antonio Mango declared him an “insane talent” and “would be ideal for Liverpool”.
He joined Rangers on loan with a buyout from Ligue 1 side Reims, with Rangers Journal describing him as a “very promising young winger” who would bring “pace, power and…goal contribution” to the Gers’ front line.
But this is certainly not how events happened.
To date, Cortes has only appeared in 21 games for the Light Blues, totaling 764 minutes, and has not featured on the bench 58 times, usually due to injury.
The Colombian international scored a one-of-a-kind right-footed goal in a 5-0 thrashing of Hearts just weeks after joining the club.
Despite the lack of activity, an obligation to buy clause forced Rangers to sign Cortes for £4.5 million in the summer, making him one of the most expensive signings of all time.
In fact, he started at left-back in August’s League Cup match against Alloa Athletic, his only start of the season, before being loaned to Sporting Gijon in the Segunda División.
Well, he has yet to make much of an impact in Spain’s second tier, having only played 92 league games for Los Rojiblancos so far, making his first start against Mirandes last Friday night, even though he was hooked at half-time as his team lost 2-1.
Although it seems unlikely that he will revive his career at El Molinon, Cortés will be considered one of the worst value signings in Rangers history.
Despite paying £4.5m to secure his signature, Football Transfers estimate his value has already dropped to £3m and is on the decline.
Therefore, Rangers cannot afford to have more transfer failures like this if they are to return to being a dominant force in Scottish football.
