'Exceptional' winger plays 0 minutes since Gers bid as Stewart pledge hints at Ibrox return
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Rangers fans saw another transfer deadline day pass by with a whimper in February as the club failed to reinforce the attacking areas of their squad.
Rangers agreed a pre-contract deal with Lyall Cameron on deadline day but the Dundee talent will not join up with the Rangers squad until the summer.
Cameron also has some learning to do before he swaps the Tayside Derby for the Old Firm next season.
Rangers' failure in the transfer market was not for the want of trying, with reports suggesting Nils Koppen did try to sign a winger before the window slammed shut.
But almost two months on from a failed Ibrox bid, one Serie A talent is yet to kick a ball for his current side.
Omari Forson plays 0 minutes since Rangers links
Former Manchester United youth Omari Forson has found chances hard to come by ever since a summer move to Serie A club AC Monza.
The 20-year-old England youth international had broken through at Old Trafford, with Red Devils academy chief Nick Cox hailing Forson's 'exceptional resilience' after making his debut for the club in an FA Cup win over Wigan Athletic in January 2024 (Man United).
But despite getting his chance at United under former manager Erik Ten Hag, Forson signed a deal with Monza until 2028 in the summer as he looked to get his big break in Serie A.
Forson paid tribute to Ten Hag for giving him the opportunity to start his career at Old Trafford.
After a tough start to life in Italy, Italian journalist Matteo Moretto claims that Rangers tried to sign Forson before the winter transfer window slammed shut.
This would back up suggestions from the likes of Rangers podcasters Heart & Hand, who claim Rangers almost agreed a deal with an unnamed winger but the selling club could not sign a replacement in time.
With AC Monza rooked to the bottom of Serie A, Forson has made only five substitute appearances in the Italian top flight this season.
Five points adrift of 19th place Venezia, Monza are ten points from safety with nine games to go and barring a miracle will be unable to avoid the drop to Serie B.
Despite the club's desperate form of nine league games without a victory, Forson is yet to play a single minute since being linked to Rangers at the end of January.
Patrick Stewart transfer pledge hints at Serie A return
Omari Forson ticks a lot of boxes when it comes to the transfer strategy Rangers are desperately trying to implement.
Young, English-trained and with big enough potential to break through at Manchester United, the move to Italy hasn't gone to plan for the 20-year-old who might look to restart his career in Glasgow.
Rangers no longer want to overpay on established British stars who've struggled to repay their high wages with silverware in recent seasons.
Alex Rae reckons Philippe Clement paid the price of scything changes to the summer's wage bill with Rangers looking instead to young players with high potential.
The only other January signing, Lille defender Rafael Fernandes, is being assessed by Rangers on a six-month loan with a €3m (£2.7m) option to buy inserted into the deal (Scotsman).
Rangers might've hoped to have done similar with Forson but there is every chance the Gers could return for the winger this summer.
Despite Philippe Clement being in charge when moves for Forson were made, comments from CEO Patrick Stewart suggest it's the club, and not the Rangers manager, who are targeting players.
"I want to explain why it's me discussing squad planning with you today rather than simply leaving it to Philippe (or the current manager)," Stewart said in a transfer address back in January.
"Club directors are always being asked, 'Are we backing the manager' when it comes to signing players.
"Again I think in well-run clubs it's the club that signs the players, not the manager. The manager does play a significant role. He should be influencing the plans and should have a veto right over signings.
"I also expect a manager to be pushing me and technical director Nils to invest in the squad. I expect that challenge [and] equally I'm going to push back and say, 'I want you to make the most of the players that we've got' and so I think you need that kind of, I call it, healthy tension where Philippe is pushing for more players and as he said in a recent press conference, every manager wants more players and you'd want that from a manager."
