Ridvan Yilmaz still has plenty to offer under Michael Beale at Rangers as transfer news emerges
Besiktas are planning an official move to take Ridvan Yilmaz back from Ibrox this week, but Rangers must reject any advances given his potential.
Yilmaz joined from the Turkish club last summer in a deal worth around £3.5m, but due to his struggles with injuries in his debut campaign, he’s largely found himself behind Borna Barisic in the pecking order.
The 22-year-old left-back has only managed just 13 appearances all season for Rangers in Barisic’s shadow.
And according to Fotomac (11 June), his lack of minutes has seen Besiktas entertain the idea of taking him back to Istanbul, and the recruitment team at the Turkish giants are now planning to “officially take action” next week to make a potential transfer happen.
Yilmaz joined the club a year ago as a 21-year-old full international for Turkey with plenty of potential, and given his unfortunate struggles at Ibrox, there remains an appeal to allow him to leave the club.
It’s clear the Turkish full-back didn’t have the best first season at Rangers, with plenty of criticism falling his way for failing to acclimatise himself to his new surroundings.
However, that’s to be expected from any foreign player taking a big risk in joining a club in the UK, and Yilmaz is no different.
The 2022/23 campaign will have represented a learning curve for him, one to take into his stride and come back a better player in the next season and his age profile, burgeoning potential and raw qualities he still possesses at Ibrox still makes him an attractive outlet for Beale to utilise as Rangers plan a full-scale assault on Celtic’s treble-winning side.
Hailed previously as “Magic” by former Rangers full-back Alan Hutton, the Gers simply cannot give up on Yilmaz so quickly.
Considering his limited minutes on the pitch, he still managed two assists, registering 0.7 key passes, 0.7 dribbles and also managing 0.9 tackles and 0.7 interceptions per game [WhoScored], meaning Beale still has plenty to work with and help him improve during pre-season and beyond.
More crucially, there remains a doubt about Borna Barisic’s immediate future at Ibrox beyond this summer, so Rangers simply cannot afford to lose both full-backs with other priorities positions in the squad desperately needing to be addressed.
Adding a desperate need for a left-back after losing two of them could certainly derail Rangers’ stark summer progress already. Yes, Yilmaz has left a lot to be desired during his first-year spell at Rangers but that doesn’t mean the Light Blues should entertain any offers from his former club.
Just like any other young talent, Yilmaz deserves further time and room to grow and become the world-beater Rangers predicted he could be when they signed him last summer.
In other Rangers news, Premier League clubs are looking to hijack this deal to take a player to Ibrox.