Glasgow Rangers officially brought U23 international Hamza Igamane to Ibrox on a permanent deal to bolster their forward options earlier this week.
The versatile attacker has become the seventh addition of the summer transfer window for Rangers’ head of recruitment Nils Koppen and head coach Philippe Clement.
Jefte, Oscar Cortes, Mohammed Diomande, Liam Kelly, Connor Barron, and Clinton Nsiala had already been snapped up by the Gers prior to Igamane’s arrival.
The Ibrox giants have also been linked with a move for experienced midfielder Kenny McLean from Norwich City but the Gers may already have a player in the squad who could step up and perform in the middle of the park.
Rangers struck jackpot with Dujon Sterling
Michael Beale brought Dujon Sterling to Glasgow on a free transfer from Premier League side Chelsea last summer and the club have struck the jackpot with the versatile star.
Transfermarkt valued the English battler at €2.8m (£2.3m) at the time of his £0 switch to the Light Blues, which immediately suggested that the Gers had landed a bargain.
The former England youth international went on to rack up 36 appearances across six different positions throughout the 2023/24 campaign for Beale and Clement combined.
His performances for the Scottish Premiership side have helped his market value to soar to €4m (£3.4m) on Transfermarkt, which shows that Rangers struck the jackpot by signing him as he has become an excellent asset whose market value has increased.
A right-back by trade, the 24-year-old star made five appearances as a defensive midfielder last season and could be moved into that role full-time to negate the need for McLean to join.
Why Rangers may not need Kenny McLean
Clement could unleash Sterling in midfield permanently in the 2024/25 campaign and that would prevent the club from needing to spend money on signing him from Norwich.
The former Chelsea prospect is already more valuable as an asset than the Scotland international, who is valued at €900k (£762k) by Transfermarkt. This suggests that it could make more financial sense for the Gers to reposition the English ace than sign a new player.
Sterling holds more value and, given he is eight years younger than McLean, also has far more time on his hands to develop and grow over the years to come.
|
23/24 Premiership |
Dujon Sterling |
|---|---|
|
Appearances |
24 |
|
Starts |
11 |
|
Duel success rate |
50% |
|
Tackles + interceptions per game |
1.7 |
|
Assists |
2 |
As you can see in the table above, he was not a regular starter last season and it was difficult for him to rack up impressive statistics when being used in so many positions; left-back, right-back, midfield, right wing.
One of his best performances of the campaign, though, came in a defensive midfield role in the 1-0 win over Aberdeen at Hampden Park in the League Cup final.
The Daily Record handed him a player rating of 8/10 and hailed his athleticism and ability to break up play as being key to the team’s success on the day.
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The Light Blues have reportedly entered the race to land the talented youngster.
Clement must now look to extract that level of performance out of Sterling on a regular basis in midfield to help his value continue to soar, whilst preventing the need for a player like McLean to join the ranks.