Beale wants it, now worth £87 million: Rangers shocked everyone by being deemed “unplayable” – view

If Glasgow Rangers can continue their stellar play as of late—Philippe Clement has completely changed the club’s fortunes—they could be about to witness something truly remarkable at Ibrox.

Michael Beale had guided the Gers to a dismal start to the 2023–24 season before the Belgian arrived. It appeared as though three Scottish Premiership losses in the opening seven games would ruin their season before it had even begun.

Fortunately, Clement came just in time, and in his short time in charge, he is already starting to deliver.

The Belgian coach will have pressure to add a few more players to his roster as the January transfer window approaches.

News about Rangers transfers

The club is usually linked to a few players at this time of year, and 2023 is no exception.

Ben Godfrey, a defender, has been linked to a move to Ibrox over the past several weeks, while the club has also recently expressed interest in Mason Holgate, another center-back.

The most recent rumour surrounding the club is that they are reportedly interested in Portuguese striker Fabio Silva, who looks set to leave Wolverhampton Wanderers next month.

It’s possible that Rangers will need to add players during the January transfer window.

Danilo just suffered a serious knee injury that may prevent him from playing until April at the earliest. This is a huge setback for Clement and the team.

Furthermore, when the African Cup of Nations is held in their respective countries next month, the Light Blues may lose Cyriel Dessers and Abdallah Sima, which would leave the 49-year-old coach with little alternatives for attack.

Given that the club appeared interested in Viktor Gyokeres, a player who excelled in the English Championship last year, this problem might have been averted had Beale taken more decisive action to sign him.

Now that he is playing for Sporting CP in Portugal, fans of the Gers, as well as Beale, may be wondering, “What could have been?”

When the Rangers desired to sign Gyokeres, Viktor

The 2022–23 season was a fantastic one for the Swedish striker and Coventry City, who just lost out on promotion to the Premier League.

Gyokeres had a successful season in front of goal in the Championship, scoring 21 goals and grabbing 10 more assists. It was evident that this garnered a lot of attention from a distance.

When the Light Blues asked in the summer what Coventry would expect for a player of his caliber, the Sky Blues slammed him with a £20 million valuation, which seemed like too much for the Ibrox team.

Signing a player who could find the back of the net as readily as the 25-year-old would have been the answer to Beale’s troubles, even though it was scarcely a likely move in the first place.

Rather, he signed Dessers, Sam Lammers, and Danilo, who together have scored 14 goals in the 2023-2024 season – three fewer than Gyokeres scored in the same period at Sporting.

It is clear that Beale had a shocker about failing to try and work out a deal for the Swede, especially with the way he is playing plus the fact he could have secured the Gers a major profit after a couple of seasons in Scotland.

Rangers could have secured a terrific young player, who was coming off the back of a sensational season, with room to grow and, instead, signed then-28-year-old Dessers after his six-goal haul in the Serie A.

Viktor Gyokeres’ season in numbers

The former Coventry striker is in such incredible form that he is currently attracting interest from Premier League side Arsenal ahead of the January transfer window, and it represents a stunning rise over the previous 12 months.

He cost the Portuguese club £20m in the summer, and they will not want to move on one of their prized assets just six months into his stay.

However, they would be forced to accept a staggering profit for the player’s brief service if a potential buyer paid his €100 million (£87 million) release clause.

Gyokeres was praised as “unplayable” by his former colleague Maxime Biamou during his Championship run the previous season, and manager Mark Robins said earlier this year that he was “one of a kind,” which goes to show how much of an influence he had at Coventry.

Sporting also plays in Europe, so it was a significant test for the player to repeat the form he had shown in England, even though the £20 million definitely looked extravagant.

He’s passed thus far with no problems. The 25-year-old has not only scored 17 goals in all competitions, but he also leads the team in goals and assists (15), shots on goal per game (1.3), and successful dribbles per game (2.5). These statistics demonstrate how important the player has been to his new team this season.

The striker is among the top players on the continent among his positional counterparts, in addition to his impressive play within his own squad.

Gyokeres is an appealing signing for a number of teams because, in comparison to other strikers in men’s next top 14 competitions over the previous 12 months, he ranks in the top 1% for progressive carries (4.41), touches in the attacking penalty area (8.12), and assists (0.38) per 90. He also ranks in the top 3% for successful take-ons (2.41) per 90 and the top 2% for shot-creating actions per 90 (4.52).

The worrying thing is that he will only get better, so the Giants may regret missing this opportunity in the future, especially given the enormous release clause that was added to his contract.

Instead, Clement will have to continue to rely on players like Dessers and Kemar Roofe (when fit) as his attacking alternatives. It is obvious that action must be taken in the coming month to address this.

The Light Blues have had success in the January transfer window in previous years, thanks to players like Todd Cantwell, Ianis Hagi, and Nico Raskin. Adding someone along these lines to the roster would be very beneficial as they want to win this season.

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