Ridvan Yilmaz could now ditch Rangers for good in January as Galatasaray transfer news emerges
Ridvan Yilmaz could now be days away from ending his Rangers career at Ibrox with a tempting offer to return to his Turkey now an increasing possibility.
Turkish news outlet Haberturk shared on Monday (18 December) that the idea of Galatasaray signing the Ibrox defender in January is “increasing day-by-day” behind the scenes at the club.
Galatasaray are desperate to sign a local left-back and midfielder and are willing to ship out Tottenham midfielder Tanguy Ndombele and RB Leipzig defender Angelino in order to secure those signings.
Yilmaz has emerged as a strong candidate for the Turkish giants with the report claiming that the idea of signing the Ibrox defender with the option to buy is “gaining more and more weight” at the club.
“In Galatasaray, which plans to release Angelino and Tanguy Ndombele from their loan contracts at halftime, the possibility that the left-back will be local and the midfield reinforcement will be foreign is increasing day by day.
“The idea of letting Rıdvan Yılmaz for the left back of the yellow-reds with the option to buy is gaining more and more weight, the Turkish report writes.
Yilmaz joined from Besiktas last summer in a deal worth around £3.5m, but due to his struggles with injuries in his debut campaign, he largely found himself behind Borna Barisic in the pecking order.
He came close to leaving Rangers over the summer (Turkish-Football.com, 29 July) after several interest from clubs in his native Turkey.
The 22-year-old left-back only managed just 13 appearances all season at Ibrox last season but has enjoyed something of a renaissance under new manager Philippe Clement, starting a handful of the Belgian’s fourteen games.
However, Borna Barisic was the preferred candidate at left-back for Clement in the Viaplay Cup final win over Aberdeen on Sunday (17 December) which certainly suggests the Turkish defender is yet to convince coaches at Ibrox.
Given the idea that Galatasaray are willing to let go of an established full-back in Angelino in January to sign Yilmaz in order for him to return to his native country will probably sway his decision to call it quits.
The Galatasaray may well be too attractive for a player who is yet to show that he is worth a worthy competitor to Borna Barisic at left-back, and both of their struggles this season could well leave Clement with the decision to sign a new one.
Either way, that does not spell great news for Yilmaz especially and a return to Turkey may now prove a huge possibility in January.
It’s unlikely that Rangers are going to be too keen to offload Yilmaz unless they receive a reasonable fee to allow him to make the return to Turkey.
However, that doesn’t seem to be an obstacle for the club once they get Angelino and Ndombele off their wage bill.
In other Rangers news, Tom English admits one “exceptional” Light Blues man is among the best in Scotland for “many-a-year”.