Rangers tipped to sell Ridvan Yilmaz for Philippe Clement January transfer budget as Borna Barisic contract mooted
Ridvan Yilmaz “could well be one” who Rangers decided to sell in January in order to bring in some money for Philippe Clement, according to Mark Guidi.
Speaking on Go Radio’s Football Show on 22 November the journalist said the Light Blues would have judge the situation depending on whether Borna Barisic is set to leave when his current contract expires in the summer, but with the manager not expected to have a big transfer budget this winter the Turkish defender might be sacrificed.
John Hartson raised doubts over whether the former £5million signing from Besiktas [Sky Sports] is “good enough” when Barisic has kept his place under both Michael Beale and Clement, and tipped the Croatian for a new deal at the end of the season if Yilmaz is sold.
Guidi said (42m 50s): “There’s two ways of looking at it, bearing in mind Borna Barisic is out of contract in the summer, so are you going to let Yilmaz go if you’re losing Barisic as well?
“If you thought that Barisic was staying, going to sign a new deal, I would look at letting Yilmaz go. Who can get you the most money in the market? Perhaps you get a few quid back for Yilmaz.”
“He was expensive wasn’t he?” asked Paul Cooney.
“Yeah I think he was just under £5million,” Guidi continued, “So if you can get some money in there.
“Philippe Clement, it depends what kind of budget he’s got, and I don’t think to be perfectly honest they’ll have a huge budget in January. He’ll really need to wheel and deal, it might be the loan market.
“So if he can get a couple of quid by selling one or two that he’s currently got then Yilmaz may well be one of them.”
Long-awaited answer
With links over a move back to the Turkish Super Lig repeatedly cropping up Rangers were set for talks over Yilmaz’s future this week, as he is unhappy with how much he has played.
Injuries have played their part but it is not a ringing endorsement that Barsic has managed to largely keep him out of the side for the past year and a half, when the 31-year-old was already being criticised two years ago and the signing was seen as the succession plan.
Should the 22-year-old be sold in January it would represent a transfer failure and would put the left-back conundrum high on the list of long-term questions to solve for the manager.
Clement is expected to be looking for help in front of goal in the New Year, with Lawrence Shankland heavily linked and Kevin van Veen now opening the door to a potential move.
Whatever the manager has planned he is going to need financial backing, which may well require players to leave in order to fund it.
If Yilmaz is unhappy with his role at Ibrox and there is regular interest in taking him back to Turkey then all signs point to him being one who could go.
In other Rangers news, a positive update has emerged from Ibrox amid ongoing high-stakes talks.