Could Rangers Solve Their Wide Issues With a Free Transfer?

Currently there’s a real lack of width within the Rangers first team. The only natural wingers in the squad currently are Rabbi Matondo, Scott Wright and Abdallah Sima. If Michael Beale wants to start using wingers to create some width, he doesn’t have a lot of options.

If there’s still some room on the wage budget though, there are two very interesting free agent wingers still available. 27-year-old Moroccan international Oussama Idrissi was recently released by Sevilla. 28-year-old Anwar el Ghazi was also recently released from PSV.

Two options with plenty of quality and experience, would they be good additions for Rangers?

Let’s have a look at both players and what they could potentially add to this current Rangers side.

Oussama Idrissi

The winger had a good season on loan in the Eredivisie for Feyenord as he helped them clinch the title. He played on the left wing and made 27 domestic appearances with 17 being from the start.

In those matches he scored 4 and got 6 assists while also averaging 1.6 key passes per game. He can score and he can create while cutting inside on his right foot. His dribbling ability is his best asset and he had 54% dribble success last season on 1.4 per game.

Although not blessed with Matondo’s pace he’s technically a much superior player. He’ll best players and be able to create opportunities for himself and others. He’s similar to Ryan Kent in the sense that he’s not a natural finisher but he’s definitely more shoot first than the Englishman was.

His ability on the ball could be key to helping unlock those defences in the low block. He’s as good a replacement for Ryan Kent as any and is available for nothing. Is he an option you’d like Rangers to explore?

Anwar el Ghazi

The ex-Aston Villa wide man was surprisingly released from PSV recently. He was on the bench for both CL tied against Rangers, although never made it onto the pitch. He’s another tricky winger who’s capable of playing on both sides but has spent most of his career on the right.

In 23 Eredivisie appearances (12 starts) he scored 8 goals, averaging a goal every 152 minutes. Those are goal scoring numbers that Rangers have only seen from Fashion Sakala, as far as wingers go, recently.

El Ghazi is tall and a powerful runner who has EPL, European and international experience. At 28 he’s in the midst of his prime and could be a very shrewd buy for the club.

Conclusion

There are probably other options out there for free agent wide men. However, these are two I feel could definitely have the biggest impact coming into club.

The recently published transfer window figures suggest there may not be wages on the table and these may not be realistic targets. However, if the money was there and available, Rangers could do much worse than targeting either one.

Do you think the club should’ve reinforced in the wide areas? If so, would you be happy with Idrissi or El Ghazi as an option on the wing?

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ICYMI you can check out yesterdays article on the current wide options at the club here.