Rangers transfer call ‘could cost them’ in Premiership title race with Celtic
Rangers’ January transfer business was impressive, but Michael Gannon believes Philippe Clement’s failure to land a new centre-forward “could cost” the Gers the Scottish Premiership title.
The Ibrox manager made three new additions to his first-team squad, with Fabio Silva, Mohamed Diomande and Oscar Cortes joining the Belgian’s ranks. Despite a deal being available for Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland, the Gers opted not to sign the Scottish international.
Clement’s forward options at Ibrox are incredibly limited, especially with Abdallah Sima facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines, and the Daily Record’s Gannon believes that could harm the Gers’ chances of beating Celtic to the title.
Writing for the Daily Record’s Saturday Jury (3 February) he said: “Rangers did decent business but failing to land a striker could cost them – and let Celtic off the hook for a woeful window. The Hoops have left the door wide open.”
Could cost Rangers
It was clear long before the January window that Rangers could do with a new number nine, as none of the options at Ibrox have proven to be prolific or reliable enough to provide goals week in and week out in Glasgow.
Cyriel Dessers has shown signs of improvement in recent weeks but with Sima, Danilo and Kemar Roofe all stuck in the treatment room, Clement only has the Nigerian and new signing Fabio Silva to call upon to lead his line at Ibrox.
Silva has never been particularly prolific throughout his career and most don’t consider him a natural number nine. It feels unlikely that the Portuguese youngster will score the goals to fire Rangers to a title in the second half of the season.
Shankland would have been the solution to all of the Gers’ problems this season. Celtic’s lacklustre business has left a gap for the Light Blues to win the race to the Premiership title, but their decisions in January could well have seen them fail to take that chance.
In other Rangers news, one journalist has shared how close Lawrence Shankland came to a move to Ibrox in January
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