On Wednesday Galatasary correspondent and journalist Metin Karabas claimed the Turkish club would soon be making contact regarding the transfer of Ridvan Yilmaz. These rumours have appeared monthly since the full back arrived in Glasgow. There always seems to be claims that he is homesick and is looking to head back to Turkey.
Recently though, since he’s came back into the Rangers team, his social media has been full of posts of him expressing his happiness at the club. After the Aberdeen game at Ibrox he tweeted this ‘In love with playing in front of the amazing Rangers fans and the Rangers family. So proud to be on the pitch and be a part of this massive club.’
Now that doesn’t sound like it’s come from a player who’s homesick, does it?
He’s been excellent since coming back into the Rangers team. His performance levels should secure his place as first choice left back for next season.
He’s much more positive on the ball than Barisic, always looking to drive forward and comfortable taking defenders on. His end product has been lacking so far, from a crossing perspective, but his passing in general has been great.
He’s also a much more solid defensive option than the Croatian. He proved this in the Old Firm game when he isolated himself against Abada and won the individual battle. He gets stuck in and picks the right time to go to ground, a much better defender than fans probably anticipated.
The club spent a lot of money on him last summer, reportedly £3.5m, up front at least. He’s only now, at the end of the season, properly getting to show why the club invested so heavily in him.
He only turned 22 this week and already has a wealth of experience, including internationally, under his belt. There’s massive potential with Ridvan Yilmaz at Rangers. If he can work on his end product, which will come with getting 100% fit, he could be the first choice left back for years to come.
How have you rated his recent performances? Are you sick of him being linked with going back to Turkey every couple of weeks?