Philippe Clement makes Rangers transfer admission after injury update

Read more: Check all the Rangers transfer news & rumours throughout the transfer window

How are you feeling going into this weekend?

Excitement. It doesn't happen so much that you have a full week. So that was interesting that we could train things, that we could work also with players coming back out of injury. For example, so in that way, positive. Nicolas Raskin trained today the first time with the squad, could do the full training. Hamza Igamane trained also now three days in a row with the first team, so those were good things that we could do. And the rest, we look forward to the next league game and to work hard to get three points.

What have you been told about the possibility that this might be the final league game at Hampden?

Nothing can be confirmed until it's sure, but people are working really hard to make it as fast as possible. So there is a possibility in that way, but not certainty.

How encouraging is that?

Yeah, it's what I said during the week, so maybe people don't believe me, but everybody's been working really hard for that to make it as fast as possible. And like I said, you don't have everything in your own hands, or a lot of things not in a case like that. But all the club has been pushing to make this transformation period as short as possible, that we could go back to Ibrox as fast as possible, and they're still doing.

What can you tell us about Ben Davies and Birmingham City?
I don't know. I know things, of course, but I will not go into rumours until things are signed, until things are sure. So I cannot say anything about that now.

Do you know how many players, first team players in your squad, that you need to let go?

It has to do with money. It has to do with high wages from the past. And replace them by players with lower wages. And like this to do something for now and for the future of the club.

In terms of players coming in, how many would you like to bring in?
No, I will never respond to that question. Not here, not in any other club. Because I know if I put a number on that, and it's less, you guys will point out that there's a problem between me and the board. It doesn't work that way. So I think the most important thing for every club is to get the right players in, to get the right quality. And everybody is in the club, I know, working really hard on that. Every moment that they're awake, same thing for me. It's busy weeks. You get a lot of players to look from recruitment until late at night. Or until very, very late in the night. But that's our job to do also. So we want to get people in who can raise the quality, otherwise it's of no use. So everybody's working hard on that.

Is a defender the primary position you'd be looking to bring in?
If people leave, we need other people in it is clear. Otherwise we're short in that position.

Can you give us an update on the players you've spoken about before, the likes of Todd Cantwell, the likes of Hagi? Have there been any fresh bids for them at all?
No, this all... Yeah, I don't know. At the end, I don't know which bids come in. I really don't know. Because I'm not interested in that. I'm busy with the squad, with the team. Also, to speak with recruitment about if they come with names, if we think as a staff, it's not only me. If we think as a staff, it can be assets for now, also for the future, because you have to make choices like that also. Like I said from the beginning, those were choices made with Clinton Nsiala, for example, who was out of contract in Milan. Or with a young player like Hamza, coming in for the future. So you need to make that choice. There's no reason for me to know every bid that comes in for a player or for what amount, because I'm not at the end the one who makes the decisions about the money in the club.

But do you not need to know if those players are about to leave so you can bring the players in?

Yes, but I can only know when it's clear. I told you guys already weeks ago, there's been a clear talk with Hagi about that before the pre-season started. Todd made his own opinion about things, why he don't want to stay in Scotland. And I don't speak only about Rangers, it's more Scotland. Why he wanted to leave. So those are decisions made for me. And it's seeing what's a good deal for them, but also for the club. And I will hear when it's the case. Until now it was not the case, apparently.

If those two players, or any other players, don't leave, will you not be able to bring any in?

Then it's going to be very difficult, I think.

Ianis has been playing with the B Team, but Todd has not. Is that your decision, or Todd’s decision not to play for the B Team?

I'm not going to go into details about that. I can say it's not my decision.

You said that Todd was looking to move on..

Boys, but please, I want to talk about players who are now busy for Rangers. After the transfer period, on the 1st and 2nd of September, we have an important game against Ross County tomorrow. I'm focused on players who are training, who are working hard to get those results. For now, for the coming months, for the coming season, to win trophies. I'm not going to go into all the rumours, all the things, all the fuss around. Because I'm not focused on that. I'm busy with the squad, to make the squad better, together with the board, with the recruitment team. I'm busy with the players who are in the building. I want that we continue talking about that.

How are Propper, Balogun and Cortes?
"Leon is fit again, trained all week. Robin is training individually for the moment, so he is a doubt for tomorrow. He will be 200% sure fit for next week, but it's a doubt about tomorrow, if it's a risk or not. We don't want to take risks for the longer term. So we will make that decision tomorrow. Oscar Cortes, I expect, is also in training next week. So that's the plan also with him. There's a small muscle thing also with Scott Wright, so he's also in doubt for tomorrow. But towards next week - and I touch wood, because we still have a game - but for next week I expect everybody back. Only not Ridvan Yilmaz, and for the rest, that whole squad will be training.

Does Dujon Sterling have an issue with his wrist?

Yeah, he made a bad fall, but that was already before the last game when he played. So he played with that. Because again, there are so many rumours here, and some people came to tell me that he was out for months, and panic around that. Totally not true. So he has a small problem when he plays with it. So he's a tough guy. 

Could the cup game against Dundee be at Ibrox?

We will see, but I don't know how fast things will be handled. I cannot give guarantees about the Ibrox situation. I can only say that for the moment, things are going in a positive way. The club is happy how things are evolving now. And everybody's doing efforts day and night to get us as fast as possible back at Ibrox for all the games.

Are you confident business will be done that you need?
How many managers did you ask that question? Did one guy give you the guarantee that it would happen?  I'm confident because I believe in the club, I believe in the recruitment, and I believe we can do the right things. We need to do a lot of things. So I know that in one transfer period, it will be impossible to do everything that we want to do as a club, that we know. But I think a lot of good things already are done, but we need still to do several things this week. That's clear for everybody in the building.

How much confidence does the performance last week give you? 

I always try to make things better and I'm focused on that, so we should have killed the game off much earlier. But there were indeed a lot of positive points in the way we did our building, in the way we could find space, in the way we created chances, in the way we defended. So there were a lot of positive things from that side. And I want to see confirmation of that tomorrow again against a tough opponent. I still have pain in my stomach if I think about our game last season against Ross County. So we know it's a tough opponent who will do everything to take us out of the game. So I want confirmation from the players, the things they showed last week. That's what we've been working on during the week.  And like this, to grow as a squad and then to strengthen the squad this week with a few players with added value towards the team for the short term. So we signed in the beginning of the transfer market several young players for the future. But we expect to do things also for the short term now.

What's your thoughts on young players coming through in Scotland? Have you seen enough of them? 

No, for sure not. And we also started with that to put much more attention towards that in all the club. And you will see tomorrow, you saw also at the end of the last game, we had several young players out of the academy on the pitch at that moment. What was before, less the case. So it's an important thing for Rangers. And I need to repeat what I said several months ago.  I think what this country misses is that the B teams can play in the second league. That would help a lot. And you see countries where a lot of young players get chances and can grow, but also have to step in between. Like Belgium, like Holland, where the B teams of several clubs are playing in the second league or in the third league for the lower teams. The step is not that big. And because of that, you also get more players who are at the age of 20, 21, 22, who are ready to play in the first league. Because they played at 17, 18, 19, 20 in the second league and they could make the step in between. And in that way, I see that people want to make efforts to make things better. But I think that is a big step that people are not open to yet. And I think it would be a very good... No, I don't think, I'm sure. It will be a very good thing for Scottish football to do that. And for all the teams. Because not only - and that's maybe the thing that people sometimes think - it's good things for Celtic and Rangers and Hearts and maybe some other teams, but not for the rest. But it's not the case, because the players who don't succeed here, they have experience in the second league. And then to go to the Ross Countys, for example. So everybody benefits out of that. And it's a big difference, because people are talking about cooperation with other teams and putting several players in one other team and to work in that way. But it's much more difficult, because you don't have any control. what is done there with the players. It's totally different when it's your team, with your coaches, with your performance staff, with everything controlled around the players. You have much more control of the story. How is the evolution of a player if you put them alone or you put them in a team where you don't have any control. It's just like throwing them in the swimming pool without learning to swim. So we need to make these steps smaller, so it needs to be more controlled. So I hope in the future maybe everybody can join together and follow that idea. It's not my idea, it happens in several countries. And they have success also with much younger players. So I think it's always good to look where things are going well and to learn out of that. Okay, back to you guys.