Philippe Clement has already made his first signing in charge of the Scottish giants as Fabio Silva has been brought in on loan until the end of the season from Premier League outfit Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The Light Blues are also reportedly lining up a £2.5m bid to sign Vitesse winger Million Manhoef to add more firepower to their wide options.
Rangers are currently eight points adrift of the top of the Scottish Premiership table after they were beaten 2-1 by Celtic at Parkhead on Saturday.
However, they have two matches in hand on their rivals and could, therefore, only be two points behind them if they win those matches, which means that Clement’s side are still in the title race as it stands.
A couple of strong additions during the January transfer window could give the Gers a lift ahead of the second half of the campaign to push on and secure more silverware.
Rangers transfer news – Lawrence Shankland
According to Football Insider, one player the Light Blues have their eye on is Hearts and Premiership star Lawrence Shankland, who has been in superb form this season.
The report does, however, claim that a move is unlikely to take place this month as it stands due to his club’s valuation of his services, which is £3m.
It states that the Gers do not have the funds to facilitate a deal at that price and would need to wait until the end of the season to launch an approach.
However, it does add the caveat that things could change if they are able to increase their budget through player sales. Although, there is no mention of who could be sold in order to do that.
The Scottish giants are said to be keeping close tabs on Shankland’s situation as the impressive marksman’s current contract with Hearts is due to expire at the end of next season.
Football Insider report that the Jam Tarts have held talks with the Scotland international over an extension but the experienced forward has refused to put pen to paper.
This suggests that the striker is keeping his options open and that a move to Rangers, or another side, is not completely out of the question, whether that is this month or in the summer.
Rangers must now find a way to finance a deal for Shankland, through player sales if possible, as the Premiership star has the quality to be a phenomenal addition to the squad.
He is miles better than Clement’s current number nine Cyriel Dessers, who has struggled badly since his move to Ibrox from Cremonese.
Dessers’ Premiership season in number
The Nigeria international has not provided consistent quality at the top end of the pitch and is not a reliable attacking option for the head coach.
Michael Beale snapped him up from Cremonese after the centre-forward managed six goals from 7.15 xG in 26 Serie A appearances during the 2022/23 campaign.
This meant that the Gers were bringing in a striker who was coming off the back of a poor season in front of goal, as the dud underperformed his xG by 1.15.
The warning signs were there for Beale but the English head coach, who has since been replaced by Clement, still pressed ahead with a deal for the former Feyenoord ace.
So far this season, Dessers has scored six goals and provided one assist in 16 Premiership matches. His finishing has left plenty to be desired as the 29-year-old flop has missed 11 ‘big chances’ in front of goal, which suggests that he has let his teammates down far too often.
The Nigerian attacker also managed one goal in five Europa League matches during the group stages of the competition, although he did not miss a single ‘big chance’ in that time.
This means that Dessers has produced seven goals in 21 Premiership and Europa League games combined to go along with 11 ‘big chances’ missed.
His performance against Celtic on Saturday was the latest in a long line of disappointing performances from the summer signing, as he struggled badly at Parkhead.
| Cyriel Dessers | Vs Celtic (30/12/2023) |
|---|---|
| Minutes played | 90 |
| Goals | Zero |
| Assists | Zero |
| Duels contested | 14 |
| Duels won | Three |
As you can see in the table above, Dessers did not have an impact on the match at the top end of the pitch and lost the physical battle with Maik Nawrocki and Liam Scales, who eased him out of the way more often than not.
The statistics that show Shankland is better than Dessers
Meanwhile, Shankland has been in phenomenal form for Hearts in the Premiership and has the potential to hit the ground running at Ibrox.
He is a proven performer in Scotland who is currently top of the scoring charts in the top-flight, with two more goals than Gers captain James Tavernier.
The 28-year-old marksman, who was once described as “different class” by journalist Joel Sked, has plundered an eye-catching 12 goals in 20 league outings for the Jam Tarts. More impressively, perhaps, is that he has done that with only three ‘big chances’ missed to date.
This sensational return in front of goal is also not a flash in the pan for the Scottish ace. He produced a superb 24 goals and four assists in 37 Premiership matches during the 2022/23 campaign, and only missed 16 ‘big chances’.
The Hearts star has, therefore, scored 36 goals in 57 league outings since the start of last season to go along with 19 ‘big chances’ missed, which shows that the £3m-rated talent rarely spurns opportunities to score.
Shankland has proven himself to be a terrific goalscorer in the Scottish top-flight over the last 18 months and this suggests that he would hit the ground running at Rangers as the impressive ace already knows what it takes to find the back of the net on a regular basis at this level.
Whereas, Dessers has proven himself to be a liability in front of goal, which is why the Gers target is miles better than him on their form since the start of last season due to the vast difference in quality and consistency in the final third.
This is why Clement must do everything in his power to raise the funds to secure a deal for the Premiership top scorer this month.
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