Rangers ace just saved Koppen millions ahead of Deadline Day

Glasgow Rangers have little over 24 hours left to make further additions to strengthen their squad before the January transfer window officially slams shut.

The Light Blues have only brought Rafael Fernandes in on loan from Ligue 1 side Lille, with an option to make it permanent, but they have been linked with other players.

A new central midfielder appears to be on the agenda for the Ibrox giants amid links to Dundee maestro Lyall Cameron and RB Leipzig midfield ace Bobby Clark.

However, performances by two Rangers stars on Sunday in the 4-0 win over Ross County potentially just saved Nils Koppen from spending millions on a new midfielder on deadline day.

Ianis Hagi’s match-winning display

Ianis Hagi started the match as part of the attacking midfield trident behind Cyriel Dessers and played a huge role in the victory with his first-half brace.

The Romania international was the first to react after Vaclav Cerny’s shot was parried out into the middle of the box and he provided a calm finish to hand Rangers the lead in the match.

His second goal of the game, however, was slightly more fortunate as his well-hit free-kick spun off the wall and went into the opposite corner that it was initially heading towards to make it 2-0.

Hagi was also involved in the third goal of the match as it was his left-footed corner that Nicolas Raskin flicked on to John Souttar to further extend the lead.

His contract is up at the end of the season and Sky Sports recently reported that he has not been offered a new deal as of yet, but another excellent performance should convince the club to save millions on a new signing by extending his tenure.

Surprise star for Rangers

Another player who could save Koppen millions is 18-year-old central midfielder Bailey Rice, who was given a huge chance to impress in the second half by Philippe Clement, after he was a surprise star on Sunday.

Sometimes you just need to give a young player an opportunity to see what they can do and the Scottish youngster may have just proven that the club do not need to go and splash millions on a new midfield talent on deadline day, or the summer.

It was Rice’s first Premiership appearance of the season, after he played in the Europa League and created one ‘big chance’ against Manchester United earlier this month, and he stepped up with an impressive showing.

As you can see in the table above, the teenage titan was dominant in his physical battles, despite his young age, by winning five of his seven duels.

He was also reliable in possession, as evidenced by his pass success rate, and did not allow any Ross County players to dribble past him in the second half.

These statistics suggest that the Scottish ace is ready to play first-team football for Rangers and has the technical and physical attributes required to play Premiership football. With this in mind, Clement should look to hand him more chances to play instead of pushing Koppen to spend millions on a new midfielder on deadline day.

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