Rangers could have £32m Chelsea regen on their hands as fans told to remember the name: view
09/15/2024 05:00 AM
Rangers have been clear this summer's transfer window was about reinforcing the squad with players who can be assets on the park and off it in the years to come.
Out have gone a number of high-earning, under-achieving experienced professionals and in their place the Gers have built a youthful squad with everything to prove.
With that sweeping change comes uncertainty as Rangers look to both deliver on the pitch for expectant supporters and kickstart a stagnant player trading model.
One player who perhaps exemplifies Rangers' ambitions both on the park and in the transfer market is Moroccan talent Hamza Igamane.
And having made his Rangers debut in the Old Firm disaster-class at Celtic Park, Philippe Clement has told the Ibrox support to remember the young hitman's name.
Hamza Igamane will be 'huge asset' for Rangers
As part of a revamped transfer model, Rangers paid a reported £1.7m to sign Hamza Igamane from Moroccan side FAR Rabat.
It seems like a lot of money to spend for a player who has never kicked a ball outside of North Africa, but Igamane comes with a solid pedigree.
At 21-years-old, Hamza Igamane is yet to play for the Moroccan national team but scored 16 goals in 58 games for his homegrown club.
Now at Ibrox, Clement had initially claimed that Rangers would be taking their time to introduce Igamane ahead of a busy schedule in October and November.
But having already handed Igamane his debut, Clement claims that the kid is going to be be a 'huge asset' not only in the years to come, but this season as well.
"He can be good in possession, but he’s also somebody with a nose for scoring goals," Clement said, as quoted by the Rangers Review.
"He’s shown a lot of good things these last two weeks and the weeks before also. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been given the chance. It’s now about bringing him physically to a good level. I’m very confident that he’s going to be a huge asset for this season and years to come."
Rangers star 'amongst world's best young strikers'
There are increasingly positive sounds around Hamza Igamane coming out of the Rangers Training Centre.
Ex-Rangers midfielder Andy Halliday spoke last month about how he'd heard there was a 'player' in the shape of the Moroccan hitman.
Don't just take Philippe Clement's word for it either.
Hamza Igamane was ranked amongst world football's best young strikers only last year by leading football data company CIES Football Observatory.
According to Football Observatory's performance score, Igamane was ranked the 7th brightest U23 striker in global football last season.
For some context, that ranks Igamane amongst the likes Brighton forward Joao Pedro, who has two goals in three Premier League games this season, and the highly-rated RB Leipzig hitman Benjamin Sesko, who just scored a hattrick for Slovenia during the international break.
Other notable names on the list include £32m Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson, who has just signed a new deal at Stamford Bridge until 2033 after starting the season on fine form.
Bologna hitman Joshua Zirkzee also just moved to Manchester United in the summer in a deal worth £36.5m.
If Hamza Igamane can have anything like the same impact at Rangers, we're on to a good thing and clearly the Ibrox recruitment and coaching teams rate the striker.
Let's hope Hamza is a project which delivers with the Gers support in dire need of a hero.
