During the January transfer window, there was the rather odd quirk of a left-back linked with a mid-season move to Rangers being joined at his current club by, well, another left-back linked with a mid-season move to Rangers.
With Ridvan Yilmaz on Galatasaray’s wishlist and with Borna Barisic’s future uncertain, Philippe Clement’s side looked at a number of left-footed full-backs before the February deadline.
There was reportedly interest in Gijs Smal, the FC Twente assist machine who, like Barisic, will be a free-agent in July. Smal is now expected to join Feyenoord on a free-transfer. And his place in the Twente XI could, funnily enough, be taken by another of the defensive southpaws on Rangers‘ winter wishlist.
Rangers’ January target struggling at new club
According to Fabrizio Romano, the Glasgow giants looked at Anass Salah-Eddine when it became apparent that Ajax were willing to listen to offers. Salah-Eddine joined Twente instead for a fee of just £850,000 with Smal’s likely departure in mind (De Telegraaf).
But it’s safe to say that the jury is very much out when it comes to Salah-Eddine’s long-term suitability for a role that Smal has made his own in Enschede, the Feyenoord-born set-piece specialist topping the Eredivisie charts in 2022/23.
Salah-Eddine has made only four substitute appearances so far in Twente colours. A lack of minutes does not mean he has escaped criticism, either, with reporter Leon ten Voorde critical of his cameo display against former employers Ajax last time out.
“What Salah-Eddine does on the back line, there is nothing going on and then he puts his foot in,” said a bemused Ten Voorde after the 22-year-old gave away a needless penalty in the dying stages of a 2-1 defeat in Amstdam.
“It was ten minutes before time and you think ‘just take that point’. And then you make such a stupid foul.”
Glasgow giants still need Borna Barisic replacement
For Ten Voorde, Salah-Eddine’s difficult start means Twente should again enter the market for a Gijs Smal replacement, prioritising an outside hire rather than promoting from within.
“A left-back and a right-back is needed next season,” he tells De Ballen Verstand. “I think we should add a new left-back.”
Rangers, of course, will be in that market themselves. Barisic is yet to sign a new deal and, following some poor performances of his own, the clamour for the Croatian to stay is diminishing.
Salah-Eddine no longer appears to be in contention. He is only a few months into his long-term contract at Twente after all. But, considering how he has begun life in his new home, that may not be a bad thing from a Rangers perspective.
