Report: Nils Koppen wanted to sign 'brilliant' Rangers ace at PSV Eindhoven before Ibrox switch
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Recruitment chief turned technical director Nils Koppen has faced his fair share of criticism since arriving at Rangers back in 2024.
Yet, as time goes on, the Dutchman’s Ibrox impact is starting to be viewed through an increasingly complimentary lens.
Nils Koppen masterminded the £1.7 million signing of Hamza Igamane. If there has been a better pound-for-pound signing at Rangers since Alfredo Morelos arrived as a relative unknown from Finnish football eight years ago, then answers on a postcard please.
Legendary captain Barry Ferguson thinks Rangers would make a big profit on Igamane already, only a few months into his Scottish football career.
And while the jury remains out on Robin Propper, Connor Barron, Nedim Bajrami, Vaclav Cerny, Clinton Nsiala and Jefte all probably fall into the ‘success’ category, albeit some more tentatively than others.
Jefte, the rampaging left-back nailing down the spot Borna Barisic once made his own, is perhaps Igamane’s closest rival for the ‘Signing of the Summer’ tag. The buccaneering Brazilian is one of the first names on Clement’s team sheet these days.
Jefte’s ‘brilliant’ form has his doubters lining up to issue grovelling apologies. In fact, you could shift the decimal point one space to the left in his reported £400,000 price-tag and there would still be an argument to be made that the former Fluminense flyer represents good value.
Though if there is anyone who will not have been taken aback by Jefte’s interest, it’s the man who brought him to Glasgow in the first place.
Nils Koppen wanted Rangers star Jefte at PSV Eindhoven
According to Rangers Review, Koppen tried and failed to bring Jefte to former employers PSV Eindhoven during his time as a scout at the reigning Eredivisie champions.
And who knows, if Koppen had not swapped the Philips Stadium for Ibrox, perhaps Jefte would be wearing the red and white of PSV these days rather than the light blue of Rangers.
Furthermore, while Koppen is open to bringing in the best Scottish talent such as Lyall Cameron – Rangers are reportedly leading the race to sign the Dundee ace – his appointment initially as head of scouting has certainly enabled a shift towards a more continental transfer policy.
Koppen takes particular pride in the additions of Igamane and Jefte. The duo were plying their trade in the faraway lands of Morocco and Cyprus last season.
Rafeal Fernandes is another typical Nils Koppen signing. Another ‘young, exciting talent’ brought in from abroad, joining on loan from Lille having made his name in Portugal with Arouca.
"It's important to look all over the globe about where we can compete financially without losing the focus on Scotland and the local market," Koppen explained a few months back, Igamane and Jefte costing less together than Rangers paid for the likes of Ben Davies.
"To look worldwide gives us more opportunities to sign these talents, and I think football is going fast. The UK market is getting more difficult for us financially so we have to think outside the box and get creative.
"But also we have to look at profiles – even Brazil or Morocco – that is more suitable. It's about looking in the different market but finding suitable profiles."
- READ MORE:Rangers Transfer History 2016-Present
Philippe Clement raves about impact of Kopen signings at Ibrox
In addition to Nsiala – Rangers’ former AC Milan starlet was likened to Virgil van Dijk by Ross McCausland before the 5-0 thrashing of Fraserburgh – Igamane and Jefte have arguably been the club’s three stand-out performers so far in 2025.
"The club had a plan to make things better than in these last ten, twelve years, and it's a long-term plan," Clement explains. "I know a lot of people who are not working for the club think shorter but you need to look long-term. And this is the hardest part, the start of it.
"You see already some some fruits growing.
"We got a lot of criticism about getting players like Hamza – he never played at this level – or Jefte and Clinton Nsiala. They never played at this level, but people start to see now why we brought them in.
"And that story will continue in the next months and the next years because that's what the club needs, to have a drastic change and not to have only short-term."
