Philippe Clement reckons Rangers will be quids in as he backed new recruit Mohamed Diomande to deliver Ibrox bosses with bumper future profits.
The Light Blues boss – who is also closing in on a swoop for Brazilian left-back Jefte – yesterday made the Ivory Coast Under-23 ace his second signing of the January window. Gers’ new midfield gem will come at a cost of £4.3million when his initial six-month loan stint from Danish outfit Nordsjaelland is made permanent this summer.
But Clement is convinced that the Diomande deal will prove to be money well spent after seeing Gers beat off competition from scores of clubs across Europe to secure the 22-year-old’s signature. Hailing the transfer coup, he said: “He’s one of the big prospects in Scandinavia so everybody knew him. So that is a big step that he wants to come to our team because there were a lot of clubs interested. He’s a young player with a lot of experience already, he’s played over 100 games.
“He played for a good team, a team that everyone is following because every year there is a lot of talent coming out of their academy. So Dio has been on the list for a long time here, but also with my old club. But it was the scouting team here who came up with the name. It’s nothing new with this kind of player because I am sure he was on the list of 100 teams.
“If you are one of the bigger prospects in Scandinavia then you are on the lists of a lot of teams. We are really happy we could convince him to come here, he was really clear he wanted to come here. I’m sure there are other teams who wanted to pay more money for him.”
Clement has the Light Blues legions surprised after choosing to spend a huge whack of his January budget on a central midfielder when most fans reckon he could do with a new frontman. But the Belgian said: “An assessment is made by the whole club, what he is worth now and what he can be worth in the future.
“So it’s a longer term investment in that way. We had a lot of good talks together and I think he’s convinced because of the club, the fans, the project and the way of working and growing as a player.
“We are aligned about that and it’s now about him showing it in the short term but for sure in long term too. He is still developing his strength so I think we can make him stronger here. He is really fast, he is agile, he is creative and he can play disciplined.
“Everybody in the club is convinced he can have a good impact in the short term and in long term is one of the players who is able to grow bigger than Rangers and in that moment make the next step.
“It is clear that almost every club in the world is busy with getting players in that they believe in, that have the potential to grow at their club and become better and in one moment sell them.
“We don’t have an investor who invests every year crazy money into the club every time. We are not a club like that so we need to build a model to gain value out of the players that you bring in or that come out of your academy. And to do intelligent moves at the right time.
“That needs to be the model for the next couple of years and not getting players out of contract, for example, and we have talked about that in the past. It is important that the club earns money through transfers and can grow in the future. Everybody is working for that.”
Work permit hold ups mean Diomande won’t be available for today’s lunchtime clash with St Mirren in Paisley. But the African ace can’t wait to get going in Scotland.
He said: “I am very excited to join such a historic club and I’ve heard a lot of good things about the team. I had a lot of great conversations with the manager who told me about his plans for the team and where I would fit in, which helped convince me that Rangers was right for me.
“I really can’t wait to get started, join up with my teammates, and run out at Ibrox for the very first time in front of the Rangers supporters.”
Meanwhile, Clement – who has already signed Fabio Silva on loan from Wolves – hopes to make it a hat-trick of new recruits as he targets a swoop for Fluminense defender Jefte.
The 20-year-old full-back is currently on loan in Cyprus with APOEL Nicosia but Ibrox chiefs are hoping his parent club will scrap that stint and send him to Scotland, where a three-year deal is waiting for him.
Clement last night confirmed the club are hoping to make further additions before next Thursday’s deadline. He said: “I hope we will not have to wait until the close of the window – but we are still busy, yes.”
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