Rangers deal for £30k-a-week ace was always 'impossible', £3.3m transfer never likely

09/07/2024 12:00 PM

With memories of last week’s Old Firm derby still stinging, Philippe Clement’s old assistant has come out batting for the under-pressure Rangers boss this week.

Johan van Rumst, a three-time Belgian league champion alongside his compatriot with Club Brugge and KRC Genk, insists that the ‘football addict’ that is Philippe Clement can get Rangers pushing for honours too if given the time to mould a squad in his image.

An extensive and arguably overdue summer overhaul is certainly a start.

Rangers signed ten new players while moving on a host of long-serving veterans, including the now-Trabzonspor duo Borna Barisic and John Lundstram.

But, as Van Rumst tells the Daily Record, there are still a few holes in Clement’s roster. He feels that Rangers need a speedy, defence-stretching wideman to replace Abdallah Sima, and a deep-lying playmaker in the Lundstram mould.

Joan Jordan may have been Rangers’ new John Lundstram

For all the qualities of Connor Barron and Mohamed Diomande – the former Rangers’ most impressive newbie thus far – neither is the type to pick up the ball from the goalkeeper and drop in to create a back-three; pulling the strings and setting the tempo from an almost quarterback position.

Perhaps this was the role Rangers had planned for Joan Jordan.

While their approach in the transfer window largely centred upon young players who can be moulded into leading talents in the Scottish Premiership, Clement was also keen to add some valuable experience in key positions.

Hence the addition of 30-year-old former FC Twente captain Robin Propper. And hence their interest in Jordan, a technically-gifted, highly-intelligent central midfielder player with over 100 appearances in Spain’s La Liga to his name.

Valued at around £30 million back in 2020 and previously linked with Arsenal and West Ham United, Jordan was a regular fixture in the starting XIs of Eibar and Sevilla before he fell out of favour in Andalusia.

Spaniard swaps Sevilla for Deportivo Alaves instead

Rangers made an ambitious offer to sign Jordan on loan in mid-July, per Fabrizio Romano.

Spanish reporter Fernando Serrano, meanwhile, claims Rangers would have been willing to sign the silky 30-year-old on a £3.3 million permanent deal later down the line.

It quickly became apparent, however, that Rangers were fighting a losing battle.

With the summer window now put a memory, Mundo Deportivo claim that Clement, Nils Koppen and co were facing an ‘impossible’ task from day one due to the financials involved.

Per Salary Sport, Jordan was taking home £30,000-a-week at an increasingly mis-managed Sevilla outfit. As such, Rangers needed the perennial Europa League champions to cover part of his salary as part of any Ibrox loan deal. As Romano explained above, that was never a realistic possibility.

For what it’s worth, Jordan always wanted to stay in La Liga at any rate.

Deportivo Alaves was his first choice destination from the beginning of the window. He feels that a move to the Basque country – which was agreed in the final week of August – is the right one to see Jordan rediscover the form that once put him amongst the premiere midfielders in the country.

As for Rangers, do not be surprised if a midfielder capable of controlling the game from the number six role – like Steven Davis used to do at his best – is a target the club revisit in 2025.