With a week to go in the January transfer window, will Rangers bring any more reinforcements to Ibrox?
So far, Rafael Fernandes, a 22-year-old defender, who’s joined on loan from Lille, is the Gers’ only new recruit this winter.
On the park, at the weekend, goals from Mohamed Diomandé, Robin Pröpper and then Cyriel Dessers saw the Light Blues fight back from a goal down to beat Dundee United 3-1 at Tannadice.
Despite this, Rangers remain ten points adrift run-away Premiership leaders Celtic, who’ve played one game fewer, but there is still plenty for Philippe Clement’s team to play for, given their involvement in both the Europa League and Scottish Cup.
So, could the Gers get their hands on a highly-rated new striker before the window closes on Monday 3rd February?
Rangers seeking a new centre-forward
According to Alan Nixon of the Sun, Rangers are “monitoring the situation” of Nottingham Forest striker Emmanuel Dennis, but face competition from EFL Championship clubs Watford and Sheffield Wednesday for his signature.
Dennis has been frozen out at Forest by manager Nuno Espírito Santo, spending this season in the proverbial wilderness, not even named on the bench for any of their matches to date, his most recent appearance for the club coming at Crystal Palace in May 2023.
Prior to this however, the Nigerian was highly-rated, with former Juventus, Ajax and Borussia Dortmund midfielder Sunday Oliseh labeling him as “extremely talented”.
The Nigerian first burst onto the scene in October 2019, scoring twice as Club Brugge held Real Madrid to a 2-2 draw at the Bernabéu in the Champions League, also on target when Manchester United visited Jan Breydelstadion in the Europa League a few months later.
The following season, Dennis was in the headlines again, albeit not for positive reasons.
He was left out of Brugge’s Champions League clash with Borussia Dortmund for “disciplinary reasons”, with Miguel Val of Marca reporting this was following a confrontation on the team bus, sparked by the fact someone else was sitting in his favourite seat. Incidentally, the Brugge manager back then? A certain Phillipe Clement.
Thus, out of favour in Belgium, following a very brief loan spell in the Bundesliga with Köln, Dennis joined Watford for a cut-price £3.6m fee, which proved to be an absolute bargain, as the Nigerian scored ten Premier League goals in the 2021/22 season, a tally only bettered by 19 players, albeit he was unable to save the Hornets from relegation.
Thus, this earned him a massive £20m move to Nottingham Forest in August 2022, albeit this did not work out quite as well, only scoring twice in 25 appearances for the Garibaldi Reds.
The striker therefore spent last season out on loan at İstanbul Başakşehir and then back with Watford, and is now trying to revive his career, having not featured in a competitive fixture for anyone for 276 days… and counting.
How Emmanuel Dennis could improve Rangers
In his pomp, Dennis was one of the best strikers in the Premier League, with former Arsenal winger Adrian Clarke describing him as a “revelation”, while Sam Ucko, a Watford supporter and presenter, added that he possesses “bags of potential”.
Of course, given the fact Dennis hasn’t been in action for almost a year, it would be a risky signing, but could it be a risk worth taking?
Well, Rangers’ most-used centre-forward this season is Cyriel Dessers, who took his tally to 18 for the campaign with this laser at Tannadice on Sunday.
So, let’s analyse how the Nigerian duo compare.
Appearances
66
89
Minutes
4,042
5,290
Goals
12
40
Assists
9
14
Goals – xG
+2.6
-2.1
Shots
95
153
Shots on target %
36.8%
47.7%
Shot-creating actions
115
23
Of course, we’re assessing Dessers’ statistics since he arrived at Rangers from Cremonese, while comparing these to Dennis’ numbers from the 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons, given the Nigerian’s lack of recent activity.
Despite often frustrating the Rangers support, Dessers’ 40 goals for the club, averaging a goal every 132 minutes, is impressive.
Although, the fact he’s underperformed his xG might explain why; his goals – xG figure of -.2.5 in this season’s Europa League is the fourth-lowest of any player in the league phase.
Meantime, during the 2021/22 Premier League season, only eight players who got into double figures for goals overperformed their xG by a greater amount than Dennis, suggesting he could be a more clinical figure, also ranking much higher than Dessers for shot-creating actions, showing that he’s more involved in build-up play.
Thus, as alluded to earlier, this would be a risky signing, but if Rangers are able to get Dennis in on loan, probably with Nottingham Forest paying a large proportion of his wages, it might be a gamble worth taking.
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