Rangers transfer squad profiles: The pieces Michael Beale must add

Defeat to Celtic in the Scottish Cup Semi-Final last season, a result that all but ended the club’s competitive season, saw Michael Beale concede what had become an inevitability - the “biggest rebuild seen in a number of years” was on the horizon.

Numbers in and out can signify the extent of change occurring within a squad. However, it will be the ability to point to a ‘pre and post’ Beale spine of this team that truly signifies a new era. This summer marks the end of the core built in 2018 when Steven Gerrard first arrived.

Nico Raskin, Todd Cantwell, Cyriel Dessers, Sam Lammers and Jack Butland have all joined since January for significant sums or wages. They’re players signed to be figureheads of Beale’s side, with more still to come.

“I’m pleased to say it won’t stop there - there’s maybe two or three more that we’re also looking recruit over the summer,” the manager recently told RangersTV, prior to the arrival of Dessers.

Looking at the current squad depth chart, Rangers have cover numerically in most areas even if outgoings are still expected.

That doesn’t negate what’s still required ahead of the new season, however.

Rather than looking at the positions that require attention, analysis of the profiles Beale’s still missing shows where the summer's remaining recruitment will follow.

Another No.9?

Most, if not all, players that Rangers sign this summer will boast hybrid profiles - capable of playing in more than one position. Beale doesn’t just want a midfielder who can operate behind the ball, he’s after a profile like Raskin that’s capable of running beyond and creating. Offerying him options from game to game and, even more importantly, variation during games.

Sam Lammers, capable of playing at No.10 or No.9, epitomises that. His former teammate and current manager in the Belgian top-flight, Vincent Heilmann, insisted when speaking to the Rangers Review that Lammers’ recent goalscoring issues have been circumstantial.

“Sam can score from nothing. Because he is such a good footballer. The issue has been that most coaches don’t use him like a real No.9. They use him like a 9.5 to play between or overload spaces because he is such a good footballer. Sam can do that but if you use him as a real No.9, he will score at least 15 goals and give you 10 assists every season.”

Interestingly, Beale branded Lammers a No.10 recently on RangersTV, saying: “He’s a No. 10 that brings so much versatility to our game. He has a really good presence, is a goal threat and I was really excited to bring him in.”

Lammers, describing his own style said: "I know for a striker the main target is to score a lot of goals and I know I can do that also. I am aware that it is a big part of being a striker and this is also my goal at Rangers, but I am not a typical striker who is only hanging inside the box for one or two chances.

READ MORE: How Michael Beale's evolving Rangers' front three to fit more forwards

"I want to help the team. I can drop out of the striker position. With my height, you might expect me to be a target man but that's not what I am. But I am aware of the fact that I want to score more goals again, I know I have it in me.”

Regardless of whether Lammers plays as a No.9 or No.10, his self-confessed profile is not that of a box-occupying forward whose only thought is goals. Similarly, Abdallah Sima is a wide attacker who will predominantly play from the right and be judged on the basis of goals. Despite that, he’s not a back-to-goal forward, often moving into central areas rather than starting there.

Recent arrival Cyriel Dessers is a rounded striker who, again in his own words, can contribute outside the penalty box even if his strongest traits are utilised closer to goal.

“When we have the ball I can do multiple things, play with the back to goal, short combinations, I can go deep” but “I think I’m best when facing the goal,” he said during a press conference on Monday.

The Nigerian striker’s radar from the 2021/22 Eredeive season shows he’s at his best adding the final actions to a move.

What is this telling me?

• In the 2021/22 league season, Dessers scored eight league goals in just 13.4 90 minutes. He averaged pretty high on xG, shots and touches in the box with 90+ percentile ratings. Remember, percentile ratings are taken in comparison to the rest of the league's forwards.
• That’s mirrored somewhat in his xG/Shot number, a metric which evaluates the average quality of shot taken. The forward isn't lethal with each effort but does offer a healthy return and is very active in the penalty area. Only averaging three more passes per 90, 14.15, than touches in the opposition box, 11.23.

With Kemar Roofe’s injury record, Antonio Colak’s future up in the air and Fashion Sakala also more wide forward than pure No.9, the need for another box-occupying striker remains. Recent interest in Feyenoord forward Danillo alongside the club’s long-held admiration of Josh Maja fits that bill.

A new style and depth at centre-back?

John Souttar ended last season with a run of impressive performances to account for. Rather than being rushed back into action his time out was spent addressing the big picture and come May, both Souttar and the club were beneficiaries of that approach.

Given Connor Goldson’s injury, options at centre-back are limited. Ben Davies endured a stop-start debut campaign and failed to win over elements of the support. Although not guilty of a litany of mistakes his style of defending can attract criticism. The 27-year-old has conceded that he plays his best football next to a dominant centre-back, hence why a strong run of form came alongside Goldson over the winter period.

Goldson’s initial injury diagnosis was 10 weeks when Beale spoke to the media after Rangers’ 3-1 win against Hibs. While that timescale wouldn’t see him miss months of the season, Champions League qualifiers will be played at the start of next month. Heading into those matches without fully-fit options at centre-back would be far from ideal.

The news on Monday evening that Leon King had “suffered a contact injury to his ankle at the club’s pre-season training camp in Germany on Monday which will rule him out for a significant period of time” leaves little to no cover. New arrival Dujon Sterling is versatile but not experienced operating in a two-man centre-back pairing.

Potential options have already been profiled in-depth by Adam Thornton on the Rangers Review. Aside from the obvious depth required, Beale arguably still needs a different profile of centre-back in his squad.

Jonathan Panzo is a player who could provide the correct age and profile alongside Goldson and/or Souttar. Panzo is a left-footer with an aggressive style who suits playing on the front foot and boasts a high ceiling of potential. Able to call upon strong physical capabilities, impressive reading of the game and confidence on the ball. Playing a left-footed centre-back can provide balance, better angles and speed in a side's build-up.

READ MORE: 5 Rangers centre back transfer targets identified and current options

Souttar’s injury problems looked solved towards the end of last season, but there’s a strong argument that more depth is required beyond Panzo before the Champions League qualifiers, especially in light of King’s injury.

A pure No.6?

Rangers rotated their options at the base of midfield under Beale last season.

They rarely used a single pivot, acting as a playmaker and composing from deep, more regularly playing with two deep midfielders to enable high full-backs and offer control in the build-up.

And, as explained in greater detail here, the side often moved to a back three to play from “better” wide angles against a packed defence, with a No.6 moving into the centre to enable ball-playing centre-backs license to roam.

This example from a win over Dundee United, with Goldson playing a pre-assist into the feet of Cantwell in a wide position alongside Davies, is enabled by Lundstram defending deep out of the picture. 

Raskin is by far and away the side’s best press-resistant option at the base of midfield, but he’s also Beale’s best No.8. What’s more, for all of the Belgian's qualities he’s not yet the probing, patient No.6 who excels breaking down a low block.

Is there an argument that Rangers are still missing a pure No.6 profile at the base of midfield, able to dictate the game in the mould of Steven Davis?

Perhaps Raskin, aged just 22, will mature into that player this season. Furthermore, the continuation of a back three in build-up does somewhat negate the need for a creator at the base of midfield in all matches, and that tactic looks set to continue into the new season.

More options at No.8?

Rangers’ interest in Jose Cifuentes is well-known, with the player soon out of contract and an Ibrox arrival at this point feeling more a case of when not if.

The 24-year-old is an attack-minded midfielder who can play in a midfield three or pairing. He’s pretty involved in the build-up at LAFC, rotating into the full-back slot to progress play just like Beale’s midfielders.

This isn’t the finest component of his game. Cifuentes appears at his best in the final third when able to create for others, crash the box and play in close combination, with a strong engine that enables box-to-box play and ability to take on opponents one-on-one.

Raskin’s a guaranteed starter, Cantwell will split his time between midfield and attack with Kieran Dowell capable of doing the same. Cifuentes’ arrival would offer depth ahead of Ryan Jack and John Lundstram. Capable of progressing the ball, but providing more of an offensive profile in that area.