Beale-linked £42.5m superstar goes toe-to-toe with Haaland, he could have shone at Ibrox

16/04/2024 14:30

One way for Rangers to get talented players who might be out of our price range is via the loan market, something Philippe Clement took advantage of in January.

In the winter window, we saw Oscar Cortes, Mohamed Diomande and Fabio Silva all arrive, technically, on loan with the latter being a £35m player after his move from Porto to Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Each deal is structured differently, however, normally a player like Silva wouldn't be available to Rangers and Philippe Clement, the same as one Premier League star was nearly strutting his stuff at Ibrox after firing his way to the top of the goal scoring charts.

When Rangers nearly had Premier League star Cole Palmer

It shouldn't be seen as blocking the young players from the academy in the squad, a club like Rangers needs to have good contacts so, proving that we can help develop the future stars of clubs like Man Utd and Man City isn't something we should turn our nose up at.

We can offer high pressure football, the need to win every week and the opportunity to compete in Europe and a title race.

In return, we will always look for talented, dynamic and energetic youngsters who are looking to prove that they can make the step up to senior football.

Sometimes, scouting isn't the problem, it's getting deals over the line.

And this is exactly the case with Cole Palmer.

Last January, Rangers needed more creativity and goals from the players in the final third and reportedly made a move for the then Man City youngster.

Palmer stayed put and, with a queue of players in front of him, Palmer decided to move on in the summer in a £42.5m move to Chelsea – a fee that is now looking like a bargain. 

What might have been.

With 29 goal contributions, nobody has contributed more in the Premier League and, with 20 goals, the attacking midfielder is now level with Erling Haaland at the top of the goal scoring charts.

Pep Guardiola, regardless of what he says, must wince every time he sees his former academy star on the scoresheet.

Rangers shouldn’t be scared to revisit Premier League loan options

The Premier League is loaded with talent and there simply isn't the room at clubs in the top sides for them to get the playing time that they need.

We were unlucky with Amad Diallo, he always looked like the right player, but arriving halfway through the season didn't do him any favours.

Had he arrived the following year or from the beginning of the campaign, he might have been able to make a real difference.

The sort of difference that Cole Palmer is now making for Chelsea, the incredible thing is, despite his numbers, Gareth Southgate might still not pick him for this summer's European Championships.

As we've seen with Jack Butland though, the England manager clearly doesn't have the best eye for a player.