With the death toll from the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria said to have surpassed 24,000, the presence of Ridvan Yilmaz at Ibrox brings matters into perspective.
Football is the most important, unimportant thing in the world to many of us but every now and then, actual life and death issues bring things into focus. That is very much the case with what we are seeing from the areas affected and Michael Beale revealed that he had a brief discussion with Rangers’ Turkish international, as reported by the Rangers Review:
“You send your condolences as we’ve all seen the really sad news and the bits on TV. It’s tragic.”
“I had a little conversation with Ridvan on it, not a big one. He’s out training and is close to a return and that’s what he’s focused on.”
“Ridvan will probably be another three weeks which will be good to get him back as I haven’t seen or worked with him at all. He’s a player I have high hopes for.”
Join us in supporting Rangers defender @ridvan_yilmaz2 in his appeal to help those affected by the earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria.
Full story 👇https://t.co/Xa7QYwd6oN @UNICEF_uk @RangersFC pic.twitter.com/89RWP0IxES
— RFC_Charity (@RFC_Charity) February 10, 2023
Ridvan will naturally be keeping up to date with the situation in his homeland but nearing a return to first team contention, he will have something to strive for at present. He will be very keen to make an impression of the manager, given that Beale hasn’t been able to call upon him in his tenure to date.
With what we have seen so far of the former Besiktas man, you get the feeling that he’s the type of player that the boss will relish working with, given his technical style and ability to get involved in the build up play. Some competition with Borna Barisic before the end of the season will be a good thing, with Ridvan’s potential still very much to be unlocked.