Rangers could get Danilo firing in move for £15m sensation

Glasgow Rangers manager Philippe Clement will be aiming to bring in another three or four signings before the end of the transfer window next month.

Despite signing eight players already, some more experience and quality is required if the Ibrox side wish to challenge for domestic honours during the 2024/25 campaign.

They have endured some near misses thus far, most recently Joan Jordan, who looked set to join the Light Blues on a season-long loan deal but decided against the move.

All areas of the pitch need some quality injected into them. Therefore, the Belgian manager faces an important few weeks ahead.

Could he turn to the English Championship in order to bolster his first-team squad?

Rangers target swoop for English winger

According to Pete O’Rourke, the Light Blues are looking to ready a move to sign English attacker Morgan Whittaker this summer.

The Gers first registered interest in the Plymouth Argyle star when he was still a player at Swansea City back during the 2023 winter transfer window.

Nothing ever materialised then and Whittaker moved to the south coast that summer, joining Plymouth on a permanent basis ahead of the 2023/24 season.

Now, it looks as though Clement is keen on bringing him to Scotland, although an asking price of £15m could be a major stumbling block for the Ibrox side.

Could Clement perhaps bring this fee down so it is more affordable for the Light Blues? The Englishman could add significant quality to the ranks, something which the manager has been after for quite some time.

It looked for a while that the Gers were looking to sign Abdallah Sima on a permanent basis, but this appears to have faded away of late.

Rangers eyed up permanent move for Abdallah Sima

Clement stated recently that he had kept in contact with Sima, despite the winger leaving at the end of last season to join his parent club, saying: “I’ve been in touch with him, of course. He’s like one of my sons. Abda loves the club. Abda loves the way of playing we had last season and his role in that. He loved his teammates and the staff.

“But at the end of the day, Brighton is the owner so it’s all about the money then. At the moment it’s not possible. But we will see along the way if there comes a possibility because we would love to get him back. We will see if it is possible.”

During the 2023/24 campaign, Sima scored 16 goals for the club, emerging as one of the finer signings made by former manager Michael Beale last summer.

Replacing these numbers will be difficult next season, but Whittaker did record more goal contributions last season than the Senegal international…

Morgan Whittaker’s season in numbers

It was clear that Whittaker would be a hit in the Championship for Plymouth after signing permanently last summer.

During the first half of the 2022/23 season, the Englishman scored nine times and grabbed seven assists for the Pilgrims in League 1 before returning to Swansea for the second half of the season.

It got even better during his first full season in the Championship with the club. Across 50 appearances in all competitions, Whittaker scored 20 goals and grabbed a further nine assists. This meant he registered a goal involvement every 1.7 games, a quite incredible rate, and one Clement could certainly do with next term.

Among his teammates, the winger unsurprisingly ranked first for goals and assists (27) in the Championship, along with ranking first for shots on target per game (1.4), big chances created (ten), key passes per game (1.4), and successful dribbles per game (1.2), showcasing his attacking talents throughout the season.

When compared to his positional peers in the men’s next 14 competitions, Whittaker ranked in the top 7% for non-penalty goals (0.43) and in the top 2% for total shots (3.73) per 90 across the previous 365 days.

These statistics clearly show plenty of evidence of just how much of a goal threat the winger can be to Rangers should he join the club this summer.

Going by these numbers, Whittaker would be a better signing than Sima, no doubt about that.

Morgan Whittaker could link up well with Danilo

The Brazilian striker struggled with injuries during his maiden season in Glasgow, making a total of 21 appearances across all competitions, scoring just six goals in the process.

When he was on the pitch, Danilo did show flashes of his talents, but the injury suffered against Hearts in December ruled him out for the rest of the season.

A strong pre-season will hopefully see the striker return to full fitness ahead of the start of the 2024/25 campaign. Signing a player like Whittaker could be perfect for the 25-year-old and will surely get him firing.

Eight assists and 1.4 key passes in the second tier last term demonstrate that Whittaker can create a plethora of chances for his teammates, something which Danilo could thrive with, especially playing as a lone centre-forward.

His pace and ability to beat defenders with ease will also give the rest of his teammates hope that the youngster can get into promising positions on a regular basis, something which the likes of Scott Wright and Rabbi Matondo struggled with at times last season.

If Clement can sell another few players in the coming weeks, perhaps he may be able to haggle for a fee which is affordable, in order to secure the services of Whittaker.

He is exactly the sort of profile that the Light Blues need in order to topple Celtic domestically, while improving on their European showing from last season.

The next few weeks will be crucial regarding any developments, but if Clement wishes to seal a real statement of intent, bringing the Plymouth winger to Glasgow is a necessity.