Rangers considering offer to sign “amazing” EFL star

Russell Martin will manage his first competitive game in charge of Glasgow Rangers later this month when his side take on Panathinaikos in the second round of Champions League qualifiers.

The Light Blues have already confirmed their squad list for the two-legged clash with the Greek side, with a number of summer arrivals to Ibrox expected to make their debuts.

Nasser Djiga, Emmanuel Fernandez, Joe Rothwell, Max Aarons, Djeidi Gassama, Lyall Cameron, and Thelo Aasgaard have all been named in the squad and could debut against Panathinaikos.

Rangers supporters may be looking forward to seeing some of the new players in action, as they look to move on from the 2024/25 campaign, which ended trophyless for the club.

Gassama is one of the players who fans may be most excited to see play in these two games, as the French forward is an exciting wide player who can provide quality at the top end of the pitch.

What Djeidi Gassama could bring to Rangers

The 21-year-old flanker has the potential to get supporters off their feet with his direct play on the wing, having ranked in the top 4% of his positional peers in the Championship for successful dribbles (66) last season.

Gassama likes to take on opposition full-backs to burst into space on the left wing, which then opens the space for him to make an impact in and around the box as both a scorer and a creator of goals.

As well as exciting supporters with his dribbling ability, the former Paris Saint-Germain youngster can also score goals and create chances at an impressive rate.

Whilst a tally of just one assist in the Championship last season does not suggest that he is going to be the next Ryan Kent, his underlying numbers paint a different picture ahead of his Rangers bow.

As you can see in the table above, Gassama ranked highly among fellow wingers in the division at creating chances and creating xA, which suggests that he was unfortunate to end the campaign with one assist.

This means that the new Gers signing could bring goals, dribbles, assists, and, of course, excitement to Ibrox with his performances for the club in the 2025/26 campaign and, hopefully, beyond.

Rangers reportedly paid a fee of £2.2m to sign the young attacker, potentially boosted by Sheffield Wednesday’s financial issues after they were hit with an embargo for not paying players or staff on time, and they could repeat their Gassama move with another swoop for one of their players.

Rangers plotting bid for Sheffield Wednesday star

According to TEAMtalk, Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Pierce Charles has emerged as a key target for Kevin Thelwell and Martin this month.

The report claims that the English Championship side’s financial situation has left them open to offers for their players, which is what played a part in Gassama’s move, and the Northern Ireland international is one of the stars who could be on his way out.

It states that the Scottish Premiership giants are considering an offer to snap him up from the Owls, as they look to add to their options between the sticks.

TEAMtalk adds that Charles is ‘enthusiastic’ about a potential move to Ibrox and that his ‘confidence’ on the ball makes him an ideal fit for what Martin wants from his goalkeeper next season.

This suggests that personal terms may not be much of an issue, if at all, for Rangers to deal with if they are able to agree a fee with Sheffield Wednesday for the player, should they make the bid that they are now weighing up.

Why Rangers should sign Pierce Charles

The Gers should push to get a deal done for Charles in the coming weeks because it would be a repeat of the blinder they played with Gassama, taking advantage of an unfortunate situation to land a potential bargain.

On paper, a £2.2m fee for a 21-year-old winger who produced exciting performances in the Championship last season looks like a fantastic piece of business by the club, as he is a promising player with a lot of room left ahead of him to grow and develop.

Charles presents a similar opportunity for the Gers, given that the report mentions that their financial situation has opened them up to the possibility of a sale, although it remains to be seen how much money they will have to spend on the EFL gem.

The 19-year-old goalkeeper only became the Sheffield Wednesday number one towards the end of last season, but he has been capped six times by Northern Ireland already.

The teenage sensation, who was described as an “amazing” player by former youth teammate Anthony Elanga, could be an upgrade on Jack Butland at Ibrox, if he can build on the promising form he displayed in eight games in the Championship.

As you can see in the table above, Charles has the potential to offer more to the team between the sticks as a shot-stopper, a claimer of crosses, and as a distributor.

His long pass accuracy, in particular, is an interesting statistic to highlight because it suggests that he is far more efficient at picking long passes out and executing them to get the team up the pitch, which may be useful when Martin wants his team to evade a press.

Butland is not as efficient with his long passing and that could lead to situations where Rangers are forced to cough up possession too often if the opposition try to press Rangers high and force the Englishman into launching it back to them.

Add in Charles’ superior shot-stopping statistics, which suggest that he could prevent more goals from being scored past him, and it seems as though Rangers could have a huge talent on their hands if they are able to bring him to the club.

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Therefore, Rangers could repeat their seemingly impressive Gassama signing by swooping to agree a potentially cut-price deal for Charles, who could be a fantastic addition to the squad, for now and for the future.