Rangers hoping to strike agreement to sign £4.3m winger

Glasgow Rangers had a less than ideal start to the Scottish Premiership season when they were held to a 1-1 draw on the opening day against Dundee United on Friday night.

The Light Blues only created one ‘big chance’ and racked up 1.46 xG in the 90 minutes at Tannadice, whilst their opponents created two ‘big chances’ and 1.64 xG.

There was a startling lack of creativity at the top end of the pitch, with Djeidi Gassama and Ryan Naderi starting on the flanks, and that is why it is not a surprise to see the club pursuing new additions in the wide areas.

Frosinone’s Fares Ghedjemis and Besiktas forward Vaclav Cerny are two wingers who have been linked with a move to Ibrox to bolster Derek McInnes’ squad in recent days.

The profile of winger Rangers need this summer

The Light Blues need to add a left-footed right winger to their squad before the end of the summer transfer window, because they do not have a single first-team player who naturally plays that role.

REUTERS/Russell Cheyne

Mohamed Diomande did play on the right in the second half against Dundee United, but he often drifted into central areas and is a central midfielder by trade, so the Gers were without a natural wide player with him in that position.

Rangers have too many similar wide players who are all right-footed and want to take the ball in similar areas, which is why it did not work out when Naderi started there on Friday night.

The Gers have not had a consistently effective right-sided winger in their squad since they had Cerny on loan from Wolfsburg in the 2024/25 campaign.

He scored 18 goals and provided nine assists in all competitions for the Scottish giants that season, before signing for Besiktas for a fee of £6m last summer.

Rangers in talks to sign Cerny-esque star

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Football Insider reports that Glasgow Rangers are pursuing a deal to sign Jahnoah Markelo from Premier League side Coventry City this summer.

The outlet claims that the Light Blues have made contact to open talks with the Sky Blues over a move to bring the right-sided winger to Ibrox before the end of the window.

It adds that the Gers are well-placed to secure his signature and believe that there is a deal to be done for the 23-year-old, who joined Coventry from Zurich for £4.3m in January.

If paying £8.5m for Cerny is deemed too much money by the Scottish giants, they could sign their own version of the Czechia international by snapping up Markelo in the coming weeks.

He is a left-footed right winger, like the former Gers star, but he has not yet shown the level of consistency that the 28-year-old did during his spell in Glasgow.

Prior to signing for Coventry, though, Markelo did racked up six goals and 15 ‘big chances’ created in 26 starts in the Swiss Super League for Zurich, which shows that he does have the potential to deliver quality on a regular basis.

However, the 23-year-old talent has yet to prove himself over a prolonged run of matches, and did not score or assist any goals in five league outings for Coventry in the second half of last season.

Markelo has a way to go before he can be considered as good as Cerny, who produced 27 goal contributions in one season at Ibrox, but he has the potential to get there.

His form for Zurich shows that he can score and assist goals on a regular basis, albeit in limited game time, and it would be interesting to see if he could keep up that rate over a longer run of matches.

REUTERS/Lee Smith

He fits the profile of winger Rangers want, as he is a left-footed right winger, but there will be a question mark over his productivity in the final third until he proves himself in a Gers shirt.

This could be an excellent piece of business for the Light Blues, though, because he could be their next version of Cerny if McInnes can get him to deliver consistently, given his potential to score and assist goals at an impressive rate.