Hamza Igamane might make Rangers a lot of money in the future. He could go on to become a legendary No.9 at Ibrox. But right now, to ask a 21-year-old Moroccan kid to take the weight of that jersey on his shoulders?
That would just be unfair. And that’s why, irrespective of Igamane arriving on Friday, I still expect Philippe Clement to sign another centre-forward in this transfer window. That might mean Cyriel Dessers leaving the club. There are plenty of rumours going around about teams being interested and his potential departure.
I’ve always felt that if Rangers were going to let either him or Danilo go this summer, it would be Dessers. Just because of his goal return last season. His performances might not have been brilliant and the big man took his fair share of criticism from supporters. But scoring 23 goals for a club the size of Rangers is always going to catch people’s eye so it doesn’t surprise me there’s speculation.
If I was the manager, I’d be holding on to Dessers until a replacement is found. And by that, I don’t mean Igamane. I’m talking about a proper, tried-and-tested striker with experience behind him.
Dare I say it, like Lawrence Shankland, for example. In January, I stated that Rangers had to sign a proven frontman to get them over the line in the title race. They didn’t – and we know what happened after that.
Igamane’s signing might be inspired. He’s clearly a talented boy with an eye for goal. But going from Moroccan football to Rangers and the Glasgow goldfish bowl at his age will be a huge challenge for him. Apparently, he doesn’t speak the language, which is a huge thing for any player coming into this country. This acquisition reminds me a bit of when the club plucked Alfredo Morelos from relative obscurity in the Finnish league. I was in the Rangers dressing-room at the time and it was difficult for Alfredo to settle early on.
He also didn’t speak any English but luckily for him we had a few players at the club at that time who helped him. The likes of Bruno Alves and Daniel Candeias took him under their wing. Morelos arrived as an unknown for £1million and would go on to become Rangers’ all-time top European goalscorer.
It proved to be a shrewd bit of business, even if he was allowed to leave for free a year ago. But when Alfredo first arrived, he needed help and time. We could see he had all the raw attributes to be a good player. He always had that brute strength and aggression. But he didn’t start games immediately.
We eventually teamed up together to get him his first goal for Rangers in a League Cup tie against Dunfermline – and from there he kicked on. We don’t know too much about Igamane but there are definite similarities between the pair. And he’ll need a settling-in period too.
It’s tough for any young boy going into a new dressing-room. I experienced it myself at Rangers and Wolves. But it’s especially hard for a lad coming from a different country and culture.
Pre-season will be crucial for him because that’s when the players have real bonding time. The manager will want to have them integrated as best he can before the first game of the new campaign. Rangers must put up a title challenge to Celtic this season and, for me, to do that they’ll need a ready-made goalscorer.
That’s why, if Dessers goes, I’d expect to see someone else come in to complement Igamane and Danilo who are already in the building. So far, the recruitment at Ibrox has been about potential and players who will hopefully have a future sell-on value.
I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed that the likes of Jefte, Connor Barron and Clinton Nsiala will all prove to be astute buys. But they’re young, relatively inexperienced – and the truth is we have no idea how they’ll adapt to life at Rangers.
Oscar Cortes and Mo Diomande have at least sampled it last season so they should know by now what’s required. Cortes impressed me in the short spell he had before getting injured.
It was a small sample size but he showed enough to suggest he could be an important player for Clement. But the manager now needs some older heads, boys who have been there and done it.
He’s already said it himself. The young players with potential have been snapped up early – now he needs guys who are ready to come into his first team and make a real impact.
That’s why I’m not surprised to see the likes of Shankland and Kenny McLean linked with moves to Rangers again. They’re both international footballers with hundreds of games behind them.
They know the landscape in Scotland and there’s a lot less risk involved in bringing boys like that to Ibrox. That’s why I’m certain that in the next six weeks or so before the transfer window shuts, you’ll see players come in who are more established. That’s no slight on Igamane or any of the other young players who have arrived so far. It’s actually to help them at Rangers.
They’ll need support and guidance from older, experienced pros, as well as the coaching staff. If they get that, hopefully they can fulfil the potential the club have seen in them and become big stars for Rangers in the next few years.
