Glasgow Rangers have been hard at work to improve their playing squad during the summer transfer window after they failed to bring the Scottish Premiership title back to Ibrox last season.
Rangers had to watch on as their closest rivals lifted the trophy for the third season in a row and Philippe Clement will now be plotting ways to return to the top spot in the 2024/25 campaign.
Gers Head of recruitment Nils Koppen has wasted little time in snapping up fresh talent for the Belgian head coach to work with before the Light Blues kick off the season with a trip away from Glasgow to take on Hearts at the start of next month.
Hearts
(A)
Motherwell
(H)
Ross County
(H)
Celtic
(A)
Dundee United
(A)
Jefte, Oscar Cortes, Liam Kelly, Connor Barron, and Clinton Nsiala have already been brought in to Ibrox and forward Hamza Igamane is reportedly set to be the next to come through the door.
Rangers' pursuit of a new number nine
Igamane can play as a striker but is also a versatile player who can play out wide on either flank or as an attacking midfielder, which means that Clement could use him out wide or behind a starting number nine.
The 21-year-old has never played club football outside of his home country in Morocco and the Gers may want to bring in a striker who could be relied upon to hit the ground running, given that they have huge Champions League qualifiers next month.
According to the Daily Mail, the Gers do have an interest in two more experienced strikers who currently play for teams in the Scottish Premiership.
The report claims that Hearts captain Lawrence Shankland remains an option for the Ibrox giants and that the Scotland international would be open to the move.
It also states that the Light Blues 'like' Aberdeen centre-forward Bojan Miovski but are wary of the rivalry between the two clubs inflating the price of a potential deal.
The Daily Mail adds that a swoop for the North Macedonia international feels 'unlikely' at this moment in time, due to that frayed relationship with the Dons.
If Koppen and Clement can overcome the odds to sign the Rangers transfer target, however, then they could land a dream replacement for Kemar Roofe at the top end of the pitch, after the ex-Leeds forward left the club to become a free agent at the end of May.
Why Rangers need to upgrade on Kemar Roofe
The Scottish giants must swoop to sign a better striker than the Jamaica international this summer as he did not provide enough competition for Cyriel Dessers last season.
Finishing was a major issue for the Gers during the 2023/24 campaign in the Premiership as the team scored just 85 goals from 99.4 xG in total.
No player underperformed their xG by more than Dessers as the Nigeria international scored 16 goals from 21.59 xG – an underperformance of 5.59.
Danilo missed 41 matches through injury during the season and that left Roofe as the only senior striker in the squad to compete with the misfiring marksman.
Rangers needed him to provide a suitable alternative to Dessers when the former Cremonese forward was struggling badly in front of goal but he failed to be what they needed.
Appearances
15
Starts
6
Goals
1
Assists
0
Pass accuracy
66%
Unfortunately, as you can see in the table above, the 31-year-old dud struggled badly with the opportunities that Clement and ex-boss Michael Beale afforded him.
Roofe ended the campaign with one goal from 1.48 xG and two goals in 24 appearances in all competitions for the Gers, which came after he had managed two goals in six outings during the 2022/23 season.
Alongside his struggles in front of goal in his last two years at the club, the experienced frontman was also a big liability when it came to availability.
He was absent for 12 or more matches in each of his four seasons at Ibrox and missed a staggering 35 games apiece in the 2021/22 and 2022/23 campaigns.
This all shows that Rangers need a better option than him to compete with Dessers and that is why Miovski would be a dream replacement for Roofe if they can bring him in before the end of the summer transfer window.
What Bojan Miovski would bring to Rangers
Firstly, the 25-year-old attacker is a proven Premiership performer who could be relied upon to come in and hit the ground running ahead of their league opener against Hearts, and Champions League qualifiers, next month.
He was named in the PFA Scotland Team of the Year, alongside fellow Gers target Shankland, whilst no Rangers attacker made it into the XI.
This shows that his peers voted him as one of the best players in the SPFL during the 2023/24 campaign and Livingston boss David Martindale backed that up with his comments during the season.
The Livi coach hailed him as "one of the best STs in the league" who would "walk" into any team in the Premiership back in December, which speaks to how impressive he was in front of goal last term.
Miovski has proven himself to be a lethal force in the Scottish top-flight over the course of his two seasons in the country with Aberdeen, which suggests that the left-footed star has the quality to be an instant success at Ibrox.
Appearances
37
38
Goals
16
16
Minutes per goal
181
197
Big chances missed
15
16
Conversion rate
23%
15%
As you can see in the table above, the Light Blues target has racked up 32 league goals for the club and missed 31 'big chances' in total in his first two years in Scotland.
Whereas, Dessers missed a staggering 27 'big chances' for Rangers in just one season last term, which highlights the difference between the pair when it comes to finishing high-quality opportunities.
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Therefore, Miovski could be a dream replacement for Roofe this summer as his statistics suggest that he could come in and provide Dessers with far more competition for his place next term.
