If you didn’t laugh, you would cry. The news would have been met with a wry smile by Rangers supporters but the bigger issue is a cause for concern rather than a reason for hilarity.

On Monday evening, reports emerged that Filip Helander, the former Ibrox defender, was a transfer target for Anderlecht. This, of course, comes just months after he returned to his homeland and signed for Odense having seen his injury-plagued Rangers career come to a painful, premature end.

Helander last kicked a ball for Rangers in April 2022 during an away win over St Mirren. He was absent for the remainder of Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s tenure and the arrival of Michael Beale before being released at the end of last season alongside other heroes of the 55 campaign such as Allan McGregor, Scott Arfield, Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos.

It was the end of an era. It was not, as it transpired, the end of Helander. The stopper started Sweden’s friendly win over Moldova last October and was part of their final European Championship qualification fixtures. He has been a regular for OB and a 30-year-old who seemed set for the scrapheap could now be primed for a move to the side that is challenging for the Belgian Pro League title this term.

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If ever a situation summed up Rangers’ luck, or lack of it, with injuries over recent seasons, it is the fate and fortune of a player who would walk into Philippe Clement’s side at present. No fan will wish anything but the best for Helander, but their bemusement was well-placed. Some were only half joking amid light-hearted talk of curses and jinxes. This is a problem that has been no laughing matter for too long.

“I want everybody fit,” Clement said in the aftermath of the 2-2 draw with FC Copenhagen. “I have a really good track record in that way in that all my teams until I came here I had an availability at the end of the season of more than 90 per cent of the players in the training and in the games. That is what I want to create here also. But we need to change to get that a few things in the club. We are really busy with that to make things better.”

The plethora of injuries that blighted Van Bronckhorst’s squad ultimately played a part in the Dutchman losing his job. Beale had bigger, self-inflicted problems in the dugout but a series of selection issues certainly didn’t help his cause and Clement has been undermined by the same complication. History cannot repeat itself again at Ibrox.

It has been one of the themes of the Belgian’s tenure to date and Clement’s press conferences have at times been dominated by injury updates. Speaking after the win over Motherwell on Christmas Eve, he bemoaned that he was ‘fed up’ talking about those who were not available after Borna Barisic and Ben Davies became the latest additions to the walking wounded list. Thankfully, the knock that Connor Goldson sustained that day wasn’t serious.

Many of the injuries have been, though. Every week, hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of talent watch matches from the stand or at home. In football and financial terms, it is unsustainable. That was known before a ball was kicked this term, but the problem has not gone away and it is one that Clement will have to address in the longer run, especially if he is to complete his ‘four pillars’ and have the best technical, tactical, mental and physical side in Scotland.

Looking at the league minutes played by Clement's side this season, far too many well-paid members of the squad or new arrivals have featured sparingly. 

Whether Danilo, Nico Raskin, Kemar Roofe, Ryan Jack, Ben Davies or more, only three of the nine signings from last summer's rebuild feature in the top 10 of league minutes played. 

Some of the setbacks are unavoidable and are part and parcel of the game. Lundstram, for example, missed the win at Motherwell with an ankle issue after a reckless challenge from St Johnstone's Diallang Jaiyesimi. Such moments cannot be accounted for and the incident that saw Kieran Dowell get his studs stuck in the pitch in La Manga was an innocuous moment with severe consequences. Other situations can be addressed and managed and the number of muscle strains and pulls must be reduced as individual loads are monitored and training and recovery schedules are carefully planned. That comes under the remit of Dr Mark Waller, who returned to the club under Beale as director of medical and performance, and Tom Taylor, the head of performance who arrived from Brighton and Hove Albion earlier this month. 

Keeper Jack Butland is the only ever-present for Rangers this season. He has played every minute of the 34 matches at home and abroad. James Tavernier was rested for the League Cup win over Morton and came off four minutes before time against St Johnstone last month. Once again, the captain is leading by example and Clement can only dream of having a core that is as robust and reliable as his skipper.

There are other stalwarts within the squad. Goldson and Lundstram have made 31 and 30 appearances respectively and Abdallah Sima has also clocked up more than 1500 Premiership minutes to his credit. It is unreasonable to expect the whole group to be fully fit and firing every week but Rangers have not had enough players capable of churning out the performances and coping with the demands of a domestic and European schedule that asks questions about preparation and recovery as well as mental and physical resolve.

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Cyriel Dessers has matched the return of the Scouse midfielder. Despite the concerns over the Nigerian’s quality, his availability has been important for Rangers and both of his forward compatriots were absent from the squad in La Manga last week. Kemar Roofe, restricted to just six outings last term, has only played 15 times this season and he, like Danilo, has no fixed date to return. The Brazilian suffered a broken cheekbone against St Johnstone and underwent knee surgery following the win at Tynecastle. He has less than half the total minutes of Tavernier at the midway stage of the campaign and has been involved in just 29 per cent of all Premiership minutes.

Losing a player of Danilo’s value has threatened to derail Rangers at times. Yet it is the paucity of their resources in midfield that have really focused minds and seen Clement get creative as Dujon Sterling, who sustained a calf issue just weeks after arriving in Glasgow, has featured centrally. Dowell went ten weeks between a nine-minute run-out against PSV Eindhoven to the final five minutes against Dundee and form and fitness have restricted him to eleven appearances in his first season at Ibrox. The same factors have impacted Jose Cifuentes and he was seen for the first time since Seville during the defeat to Hertha Berlin on Saturday.

The losses of more established players have naturally been more noticeable. Tom Lawrence returned from 12 months out in August and made four appearances before missing all of October and his final showing of the calendar year came in early December at Tynecastle. The stop-start nature of Ryan Jack’s availability is surely now threatening his future beyond the end of the season. Both midfielders returned on Tuesday evening but the news was not all positive on the injury front. Sterling has picked up a knock that should be a short-term issue but Dowell has been ruled out for up to two months. Davies was expected to return this week but he is still working with the physio team, as is youngster Zak Lovelace as he seeks to make his way into Clement's plans for the first time.

Dowell, Roofe and Jack have less than 400 minutes of Premiership action to their credit. Scott Wright, absent between the two trips to Hampden in the Viaplay Cup, and Rabbi Matondo also fall below that bar. The Welshman sustained a knee injury and was sidelined during the same period that Todd Cantwell was recovering after being crocked during the Old Firm defeat at Ibrox and Nicolas Raskin was available for just the fourth time under Clement against Kilmarnock before the winter break.

It is almost remarkable that Rangers find themselves in contention for the Premiership title given the paucity of resources that Clement has had at times. The Viaplay Cup was lifted by a bandaged-up band of brothers that had made history in Seville just days earlier. An Old Firm win proved to be one step too far for a stretched group, but Rangers will begin the second half of the season with it all to play for when they face Dumbarton in the Scottish Cup on Saturday.

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If those goals are to be achieved, the injury situation must be addressed and improved. Whether it is down to bad luck or bad decisions, Rangers simply cannot afford to have as many players in the treatment room at a time when Clement needs as many as possible in his dressing room.

The Ibrox boss lamented the fact that he was ‘more talking like a doctor this press conference than as a manager. So I prefer to talk a little bit about football also’ ahead of the trip to Dundee. In the same interview, he was asked if he could put his finger on why there were so many injuries. "Yes, but not for you guys,” he said after describing the situation as the ‘biggest puzzle’ that he had seen in his career. “That's something for in the club." One of the solutions is the cryochamber at Auchenhowie and Clement was somewhat bemused by the limited time that his players spent using the recovery aid. Once he mentioned it to them, it became a regular part of their programme.

Clement has never used the situation as an excuse for performances or results. He is there to find workarounds rather than cling to mitigations. His job would be made easier, and Rangers’ chances of success would be increased if more of his players can stay fit more of the time. The squad needs strengthening in certain areas - most pressingly in the final third - and the January window will define Clement's aspirations. If he can catch a break injury-wise, he will be confident that he has enough to get Rangers over the line.

This is a long-term problem that will require a long-term fix. It is an issue that impacts Rangers in the here and now. It will continue to do so. Right now, Clement is only putting sticking plasters on wounds and hoping for the best.