In the summer, Giovanni van Bronckhorst was confident that both Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos would extend their contracts at Rangers and commit their futures to the club, however, it’s all gone a bit quiet. On top of that, we have an injury list that would cripple even the biggest of squads.
Every fan is aware of the players who are approaching the end of their contracts and that it is a genuine period of transition that we are going through, only a handful of the original cast of 2018/19 when Steven Gerrard first built his title-winning squad might be left at the end of summer 2023.
When asked about the possibility of getting deals done in January, the manager, as reported by Football Scotland, said:
“I don’t know how many, we still have two months to prepare for the window to open. When we come into the second part of December we will know which players we’ll have back from injury and who we’ll still be waiting on.
“Then we can pinpoint positions we might have to strengthen. You always want to add players in January. We have a lot of players out with injuries and need to look closely at which players are coming back. You don’t want to lose players.
“The beginning and the end is important because you want to finish the window stronger than you started it.”
For once, January might actually be a decent time to make new additions. Summer targets Nicolas Raskin and Davie Selke are both available to discuss moves and, if we want to bring in a long-term replacement for Allan McGregor, Bodo/Glimt’s Nikita Haikin can move immediately without the need for a transfer fee.
These three players would instantly add quality and depth without the need to dip too deeply into the bank account, only Raskin would command a fee if we wanted to sign him straight away.
Last January, it looked like a decent window on paper with a number eight and right winger being brought in, however, we all know how the Aaron Ramsey and Amad Diallo experiment turned out.
A repeat could cost us the title and, ultimately, his job.