£3.4million Rangers investment could be on the line as Aberdeen head to Ibrox
Ridvan Yilmaz will be playing for his Rangers future on Sunday when as expected, he starts in the Premiership clash against Aberdeen at Ibrox.
Michael Beale confirmed on Friday that Borna Barisic is out of contention, paving the way for the Turkish international to make an impact, following on from his late cameo in the Scottish Cup loss to Celtic, last week.
Following the £3.4 million investment [Sky Sports] that brought Ridvan to Glasgow, he is yet to prove himself ahead of a massive squad rebuild in the summer.
Ironically, it was against Aberdeen at Ibrox that the former Besiktas man had his most significant moment to date, in a Ranger shirt.
In that game last October, he suffered a significant hamstring injury just as he was showing glimpses of potential. The setback cost him a chance to feature prominently under Michael Beale since his return to the club and it is only in the last few weeks, that the left-sided player has been available.
Now, he must deliver by showing that he has the credentials to be a first choice for next season otherwise an early exit could be on the cards.
Having been signed last year during the reign of Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Ross Wilson, there is no real evidence so far that Ridvan has the quality required to hold down a shirt, due to a combination of injury and a lack of game time.
Yes, he hasn’t had a run in the team but that’s because he hasn’t done enough, when available, to keep Barisic out.
With the important clash against Celtic to come next week, the 21-year old must do enough on Sunday to show that he can be trusted to play in the big fixture, with further pressure to come on Rangers to secure their first derby victory this season, at the sixth and final time of asking.
In the last games of this campaign, some players are facing a fight to save their future at Ibrox and Ridvan is one of them. This is a £3.4m investment that is on the line, starting against Aberdeen.
In other Rangers news, the path now is now clear for another player to seal permanent Ibrox exit this summer, according to this report.