Clinton Nsiala has hit the ground running at Rangers training with a clip of the big defender turning goalscorer being shared widely.
The new arrival from AC Milan is part of a youthful Ibrox rebuild, joining alongside Hamza Igamane, Jefte and Connor Barron as well as the return of Oscar Cortes for a second spell. Philippe Clement is putting together a team for the future as well as the present and has urged caution where Nsiala is concerned, the 20-year-old expected to be eased in gently as he adapts to life in Scotland.
But if footage shared from inside training at Auchenhowie is anything to go by, he’s getting right in amongst it. Fans have been sharing a clip of a combination between Cortes and Nsiala where the defender bursts forward to get on the end of a low cross. Cortes works it down the right before squaring and it’s the French defender who is there to convert at the back post
One fan even joked he’s ‘the next Madjid Bougherra,’ whose knack for a drive forward and the odd big goal propelled him into hero status at Ibrox. Big shoes to fill!
Elsewhere it’s looking like Jose Cifuentes may be on his way back to Ibrox in December with his loan spell away not exactly going to plan. The Ecuadorian was infamously tipped by Michael Beale to transform Rangers’ midfield when he signed last summer, but it hardly went to plan after his £1m switch from LAFC. His last Premiership involvement to date saw him sent off against Dundee and in January he was loaned out to Cruzeiro in Brazil.
It’s believed they hold an option to buy, but he’s started just once for his new club – and was subbed off at half-time against Atletico-GO. He’s been at Copa America recently but failed to even get off the bench for Ecuador and now returns to Cruzeiro hoping to force his way into the side. If he can’t, a return to Ibrox to consider his options beckons, with his one-year stint up from December 31 this year.
Elsewhere ex-Rangers midfielder Kyle Hutton is relishing the prospect of facing old Ibrox pal Kyle Lafferty in the West of Scotland League this season – and hopes to steer new side Gartcairn to glory at the expense of his former travel buddy. The 33-year-old from Cambuslang knows Lafferty’s big-spending Johnstone Burgh side will be one of the main contenders for the Premier crown this season, but says the Airdrie outfit are “quietly confident” of making a title push themselves.
The pair used to be travel companions in 2011 – when Hutton lost his driver’s licence for speeding – and he told Lanarkshire Live Sport : “It will be fun coming up against Lafferty. I’ve met him a few times (since their Rangers days) and had a bit of banter with him. When I was at Rangers I was quite tight with Kyle. When I lost my driver’s licence, he’d pick me up and take me into training and things like that.
At away games when we’d stay in a hotel, I used to room with him as well. He’s daft as a brush, but he is a good laugh and he is a funny guy, I’ll give him that. I know he missed a lot of last season with injury, but in the games he did play he scored a few goals so if he keeps himself fit, I’m sure he’ll score a barrel load in this league.”
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