Rangers’ busy transfer window activity continues.
Over the weekend, the Light Blues confirmed the signing of teenage left-back Jayden Meghoma, arriving on a season-long loan from Brentford.
He is the tenth new player recruited by Russell Martin, with more expected to follow, as he seeks to completely overhaul the Rangers squad he inherited.
Now though, the Gers are seeking to bolster their backline even further, targeting another exciting talent…
Rangers' search for a new left-back
Ahead of Tuesday night’s Champions League play-off first leg against Club Brugge, Rangers submitted a squad to UEFA that featured no out-and-out left-backs.
Rıdvan Yılmaz has not featured at all under Martin, with Beşiktaş attempting to re-sign him, while Jefté, who did start both legs against Viktoria Plzeň in the previous round, has now also been excluded, reportedly close to a £6m move to Palmeiras.
Thus, Max Aarons is expected to once again fill-in at left-back, as he did for both legs against Panathinaikos, and on the opening day of the Premiership campaign at Motherwell, but this is a far from ideal solution.
Thus, according to Il Messaggero, via the Daily Record, Rangers have revived their interest in signing Anass Salah-Eddine from Roma, with the Light Blues said to be ready to make contact regarding a potential move.
They add that newly-promoted La Liga outfit Elche are among the 23-year-old’s other suitors, with the Giallorossi willing to sell.
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Salah-Eddine only joined Roma from FC Twente in January for a reported fee of €8.5m plus €2m in add-ons, around £9m, but the full-back is not in new manager Gian Piero Gasperini’s plans, so could he soon swap the Eternal City for Ibrox?
What Anass Salah-Eddine would bring to Rangers
Born in Amsterdam, Salah-Eddine came through Ajax’s academy, representing the Dutch giants at multiple youth levels, before making just ten appearances for their first team.
He was loaned out to FC Twente for the 2022/23 season, before making the move to Enschede permanent, featuring 53 times for them overall.
His big breakthrough came this time last year, finally establishing himself as Twente’s first-choice left-back, notably starting all eight of their Europa League league phase fixtures, doing so against such high-calibre opponents as Manchester United, Lazio and others.
As already referenced, this earned him a move to Roma in January, the Giallorossi splashing up to £9m to secure his signature, but this certainly has not gone to plan.
Salah-Eddine featured in three of the first five Serie A fixtures following his arrival, starting against Parma and Empoli, but has not been seen since, an unused substitute for the final ten league matches, while a summer change of management at the Olimpico hasn’t improved his standing either.
While he was still in the Eredivisie, Jacek Kulig of Football Talent Scout labelled him a “technically gifted” full-back, adding that he was one of “the most talented” young Dutch talents at the time.
So, let’s assess his statistics from last season’s Europa League.
Minutes
709
6th
Assists per 90
0.25
2nd
Expected assists
2
1st
Completed passes
310
3rd
Key passes
8
4th
Shot-creating actions
23
4rd
Goal-creating actions
2
2nd
Tackles
23
2nd
Interceptions
14
1st
Ball recoveries
47
2nd
Attempted take-ons
23
2nd
Progressive carries
21
2nd
Touches
493
3rd
Average Sofascore rating
7.01
2nd
As the table outlines, when compared to his former Twente teammates in last season’s Europa League, Salah-Eddine ranks very highly for a wide variety of metrics.
The left-back was a key chance creator, as well as completing a lot of passes and accumulating a high number of touches, while also being solid defensively, ranked in the top two for tackles, interceptions, ball recoveries and more, despite having been sold by the time they faced Bodø/Glimt in the knockout stages, thereby featuring in two fewer fixtures.
So, why would he be a better signing than Meghoma?
Well, the Brentford loanee is very inexperienced, making just four appearances for the Bees, totalling 174 minutes, spending the second half of last season on loan at Preston North End, but only featuring 14 times for them, an unused substitute eight times.
Salah-Eddine, on the other hand, has vastly more experience, especially at European level, so would be better equipped to come in and make an instant impact, which is what Martin surely needs, while Meghoma is more of a developmental project.