Rangers' £2.4m target beats another Ibrox-linked star to Player of the Month award
Yesterday at 04:00 PM
Considering Rangers’ form during December, a few members of Philippe Clement’s squad may have felt they were in with a shot at the Scottish Premiership’s Player of the Month award.
The Glaswegians won four and lost just one of their six games before the turn of the year, scoring 14 goals along the way.
Finding the net four times in December alone, surely Hamza Igamane would be in contention. Maybe Ianis Hagi too, revitalised and rampant at Rangers following his return to the team. James Tavernier enjoyed an impressive return to form as well, especially while scoring in successive victories over Ross County and Kilmarnock.
In the end, Nicky Cadden’s sensational spell in the green of Hibernian was simply too good to ignore.
With three assists and four wins from his five outings, Cadden made it a Hibs double for December alongside Manager of the Month David Gray.
Some 8,500 miles to the south east, meanwhile, two reported Rangers transfer targets went head to head for South Africa’s own Player of the Month award.
- READ MORE:Rangers Transfer History 2016-Present
Reported Rangers target Iqraam Rayners wins Player of the Month award
Orlando Pirates wonderkid Relebohile Mofokeng has reportedly caught the eye of Barcelona alongside Philippe Clement’s Premiership giants, emerging as comfortably the most vaunted South African talent of his generation.
Mofokeng would be pipped to the post, however, by a striker who established himself at the top of the Golden Boot rankings with successive winners against Stellenbosch FC and AmaZulu for title-chasing Mamelodi Sundowns.
Speculation over Rayners’ future, after only a few months with the Sundowns, has cast something of a shadow of their title bid.
According to reports in the 29-year-old’s homeland, Rangers are willing to pay £2.4 million to bring Iqraam Rayners to Scotland. Reports which, as things stand, continue to be limited to South Africa and are yet to be corroborated by sources closer to the Gers.
A late-bloomer, Rayners shot to fame when he scored five goals in a single league match last season. Only the second player to achieve such a feat in South Africa.
"Iqraam's on a great run of form," his then-Stellenbosch coach Steve Barker told IOL after Rayners single-handedly destroyed Polokwane City with five lethal but very different finishes back in 2024.
"He is a quality footballer and an excellent finisher, and you could see that. What can one say? They were five special goals. Every goal was from a well-thought-out, well-struck or composed and quality finish.
"He showed his qualities again as a goalscorer."
Patrick Stewart plays down reports of Cyriel Dessers exit
While Rayners’ recent record speaks for itself, whether Rangers would consider bringing a new centre-forward to Ibrox this month remains to be seen. Much will depend on the future of Cyriel Dessers.
Rangers reportedly opened talks about selling Dessers last week, though the club’s chief executive Patrick Stewart has since indicated that there are few plans to let any of the club’s senior players go with the Scottish Cup and the Europa League still up for grabs.
"I think I would be told it was irresponsible if we sold a player,” Stewart said. “There's always a balance, but January is not typically a window in which those sorts of transactions take place.
"We're always, as a board, going to be looking at the long-term and striking a balance in the long-term. That's our duty.”
