Sky Confirm Rangers Close To Securing Premier League Defender Worth £10M | OneFootball

Rangers are closing in on their fifth summer signing, and this is one that genuinely looks a little bit better. Rangers to sign Nasser Djiga is coming from a stable that includes some of the big sides of Europe, particularly Red Star Belgrade of Serbia—typically the Rangers of that country. That is to say, they are the biggest team, the one expected to win. At £10m, he is definitely worth a few quid, and he does have five or six Premier League appearances for the Molineux side, plus an outstanding 14 appearances in UEFA’s Champions League. This is a lad from a good stable—he can certainly play.

He might not have quite cracked it at Wolves, but he is one who has a solid repertoire behind him. The caveat, of course, to Rangers’ interest is that his circumstances are very similar to those of fellow Wolves ex-player Fabio Silva, who arrived at Ibrox with all the fanfare of being worth around £35m and turned out to be utterly terrible. Djiga has a much lower market value and is a bit more modest. There may not be the same hype, but he does have a decent CV behind him.

Nevertheless, we are a little cautious about Rangers to sign Nasser Djiga with the Wolves angle and the fact that he did not quite get through at Molineux, just like Silva. That does not mean you can compare two players all the time, but we never like omens—especially when they are not good.

That said, there is no question this is a decent signing. On paper, this seems to be a better acquisition. It’s along the same lines as Max Aarons, who, coming from Bournemouth on loan, also carries a reputation thanks to plenty of Premier League appearances, even if he fell on hard times.

The fact is, Ibrox Noise has been on record many times over, preaching to anyone who would listen that we seek Premier League-level players, like the ilk Walter Smith once used to sign—namely David Weir, Ugo Ehiogu, and one or two others. These were the men who made us champions, who made us the best team in Scotland, alongside of course the guidance of the late, great Walter.

Now we are looking at Premier League again. Let’s not forget Conor Coady is still on the wire as well. And of course, with Aarons from Bournemouth and now Djiga from Wolves, we are definitely looking at a slightly better calibre of player. We can even spin Rothwell more positively now, because even though his Premier League appearances are very close to those of Kieran Dowell—who did not really work out at Rangers—30 appearances at that level is not too bad either.

Are we feeling a little bit better about Rangers’ window with this signing? Maybe. There may just be an iota of a speck of hope here.

But then, it is worth remembering that Russell Martin himself managed in the Premier League and was absolutely hopeless at that level. So having appearances—either in the dugout or on the pitch—at that level does not necessarily mean you are good at that level. After all, our own former star Joe Aribo played in the Premier League and sank there. And of course, he then sank under Martin himself this season.

So at the end of the day, we will see how Djiga gets on. We hope that this is the signing of the ilk that we need. But we must say—we are a little bit more positive about this one. Took our time, didn’t it?