Philippe Clement tight-lipped on potential Rangers return for £4m League One star
Yesterday at 04:00 PM
Philippe Clement knows that Rangers need more options at centre-back if they're to go the distance in the marathon of a football season.
The Rangers manager is without both Neraysho Kasanwirjo and John Souttar for the foreseeable future after both players succumbed to injury at Ibrox.
It meant Dujon Sterling was asked to deputise alongside Robin Propper at centre-back in the win over Dundee with Leon Balogun the only other centre-back in the squad.
It's led to questions on Rangers' January transfer plans with centre-back believed to be a genuine area of concern for the Ibrox recruitment team.
Philippe Clement on Ben Davies return
As part of the ongoing issues at centre-back, Philippe Clement was asked if Ben Davies could potentially be recalled from a loan at Birmingham City.
Rangers signed a £4m deal to buy Davies from Liverpool in 2022 but the centre-back has struggled to make a proper impact in Glasgow.
Part of a Birmingham City side who have their sights set on promotion from League One this season, losing Davies would be a blow to the US-backed side.
But Philippe Clement was in no mood to discuss Rangers' January transfer plans with the Belgian tight-lipped on the club's internal discussions.
"I don't want to speak about those things," said Clement. "Because we didn't go in detail on those things inside the club yet."
Rangers manager on transfer budget
Philippe Clement was also asked about the club's transfer budget heading into the January window.
The Belgian had previously explained that he was set to meet with the Rangers board about January's transfer plans earlier in the month.
With the window set to open in a week's time, Rangers secured around £8m in additional funding through a share issue between the club's current investors.
How much Philippe Clement will have to spend remains a mystery and the Rangers manager insists it's not his job to discuss the club's finances.
"I had to speak a lot about (the transfer budget) in the last transfer window," said Clement.
"And in the end, it's totally not my responsibility in the club.
"It's my responsibility to work with the players who are there, to help the club to find players together with recruitment and then to make right decisions inside the budget.
"But with the budget I don't have any influence in that so Patrick (Stewart) is really happy to take that on his shoulders, to speak with you guys about that the next couple of weeks."
