AliousWhile much can be debated regarding the talent at Rangers’ disposal, one thing that cannot be levelled at Nils Koppen and co is a lack of depth in Philippe Clement’s squad.
When everyone is fully fit, Clement can pick from Hamza Igamane, Danilo and a revitalised Cyriel Dessers in the attacking department.The pre-planned arrival of Lyall Cameron, plus the emergence of teenage trio Bailey Rice, Findlay Curtis and Paul Nsio, adds youth and legs to a midfield selection already containing Nico Raskin, Mohamed Diomande and Connor Barron.
Both Jefte and Ridvan Yilmaz would walk into most Premiership XIs – if not all bar Celtic – as would Dujon Sterling and particularly James Tavernier on the other side. At central defence, meanwhile, Rangers can count on John Souttar, Robin Propper, Clinton Nsiala, Sterling and now Rafael Fernandes too.With Cameron not due to arrive until the summer, the former Portugal Under-23 international was the only new face to join the ranks during the January transfer windowRangers agreed a deal with Lille to loan Rafael Fernandes for the remainder of the season, in order to provide him with the sort of first-team minutes which proved difficult to come by in France.
But while Clement succeeded in enhancing his defensive options – Rangers sources describe Rafael Fernandes as an ‘unreal’ talent – the Belgian’s opposite number in the Stade Pierre Mauroy dugout is a little concerned about his own.Lille boss fears ‘regrets’ after Rafael Fernandes joins Rangers
Speaking to Le11, Lille coach Bruno Genesio cannot help but wonder if Fernandes’ exit, coupled with the failure to tie up a deal with FC Luzern for Luca Jaquez, will come back to bite a LOSC side with only four senior centre-backs under contract.One of which being Samuel Umtiti. The injury-hit former Barcelona stopper who hasn’t been seen in a Lille jersey since December 2023.
“I think we had solutions to compensate for possible absences,” Genesio sighs, Lille’s best-laid plans going awry late in the window. “We had targeted a player who has since signed for Stuttgart (Luca Jaquez moving to Germany for £4.5 million) to strengthen our central defence, where we have little depth.
“It turns out that this deal was not done at the last moment, and we did not recruit this player that I considered necessary. I don’t know the reasons. The squad is definitive until the end of the season, it’s up to us to get the most out of it.But we would have liked the Luca Jaquez file to be successful.”
Ibrox loanee struggled for game time in France
Of course, it is certainly worth pointing out that Bruno Genesio did not consider Rafael Fernandes a particularly important part of his first-team picture. The £2.5 million signing from Arouca did not play a single minute of Ligue 1 football, despite Leny Yoro’s big-money departure to Manchester United over the summer.
Yet, should Aissa Mandi, Alexandro or Bafode Diakite join Umtiti on the sidelines for an extended period, Fernandes could still have come in very handy.” I would have liked to have an additional player in defence,” former Lyon boss Genesio adds, pointing out that Diakite and Alexandro are well on their way to having played over 4,000 minutes apiece throughout the 2024/25 season.
“I hope that they will continue to perform well and, above all, that we will not have any problems in this position with Aissa too. It could be detrimental to us, but that’s the story of the winter transfer window.
“I hope that we will not regret not having been able to get this player in the winter transfer window.”Speaking of regrets, Rangers and Philippe Clement had their fair share of those after Sunday’s humiliating Scottish Cup exit at the hands of second-tier Queen’s Park.
Rafael Fernandes made his first Gers start on Sunday afternoon, albeit he was one of the few players free from any blame as the visitors scored with their only shot on goal throughout the entirety of the game.
Alious
