What does impending Ridvan Yilmaz transfer arrival mean for Borna Barisic's Rangers future?

The highly-rated Turkish international is reportedly set to undergo a medical with a view to signing from Besiktas a deal worth around £5m depending on what you read. He’d become Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s seventh summer signing and will fill the void vacated by Calvin Bassey at left-back. But what does the addition of the 21-year-old mean for the future of Borna Barisic?

The Croatian international is no stranger to transfer rumours after being linked with a move to Watford last year and this window is unlikely to be different. However, at the time of writing no acceptable offer has been tabled for his services. The Rangers Review understands Barisic is happy and focused at Rangers and is in no hurry to leave.

That being said, with the World Cup just around the corner, the 29-year-old won’t want to be warming the bench. Competition for places is important, particularly at an institution such as Rangers and given his recent pre-season performances against Blackpool and West Ham, it appears he is sending a message to van Bronckhorst that he can perform to the standards required.

Speaking after Tuesday night’s win over the Hammers, the Rangers boss was quizzed on Barisic being the only left-back in the first-team squad. He replied: “Now we only have Borna, last season we also had Calvin [Bassey] who could play in that position. Borna’s performances have been really good. We must see what will happen in the coming weeks.

“We also have Adam Devine whose development is going in the right direction, Leon King can play there too.”

It’s important to also note that Rangers played a mammoth 65 matches last season and in the modern game, it’s more than likely Barisic will play a significant part should he remain at Ibrox after the transfer window closes on the 1st of September. 

Suarez no go

No matter where you go, the transfer window is littered with rumours and at Rangers it’s no different. Part of our job at the Rangers Review is to investigate potential transfer links to give the facts as we understand them to the supporters.

Some rumours can be more extravagant and left-field than others and last night's shock link was a WhatsApp doing the rounds mooting Luis Suarez as a potential new arrival.

Now as much as we would all love to see the Uruguayan strut his stuff on the hallowed Ibrox turf, unfortunately, that will have to remain a pipe dream. You probably don't need me to tell you that but, let's be honest, if the Aaron Ramsey transfer deal taught us anything it's that football can surprise you sometimes.

Keen to check it out, we spoke to a source close to the former Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Liverpool forward and a sensational summer move was ruled out.

You can bet there will be plenty more names linked to last season’s Europa League finalists during the next five-and-a-half weeks but as we all know by now, nothing is ever confirmed until you see said player with a red, white and blue scarf held aloft above their head.

This piece is an extract from today’s Rangers Insider newsletter, which is emailed out at 5pm every weekday with a round-up of the day's top stories and exclusive analysis from the Rangers Review team.

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