Now that Rangers’ season is effectively over, planning can start for the summer.
Last time out, the Gers’ Europa League dreams were shattered, beaten 2-0 by Athletic Club Bilbao at San Mamés, thereby exiting the competition at the quarter-final stage.
Thus, the Light Blues will therefore endure a sixth trophyless season out of the last nine, 15 points adrift Celtic with five Scottish Premiership fixtures remaining, meaning they have nothing left to play for, starting with Saturday’s trip to Paisley to take on St Mirren.
Many will point to Philippe Clement’s sacking in February as the key reason why this campaign has been a spectacular failure, but poor recruitment has to be the primary factor for sure, with a few players simply not pulling their weight.
Nedim Bajrami's underwhelming Rangers record
Nedim Bajrami joined Rangers from Sassuolo on deadline day last summer for a reported fee of £3.5m, doing so with sky-high expectations.
A couple of months earlier, the Albanian international had scored the fastest-ever goal in European Championship history, giving the Red and Blacks the lead against Italy at Westfalenstadion after just 23 seconds.
Lee Scott of Total Football Analysis praised Bajrami’s ability to ‘play dangerous passes…dribble creatively [and] progress the ball effectively’, while Nick Miller of the Athletic noted that he has ‘gained a bit of a reputation for popping up with big goals’.
Upon his arrival at Ibrox, Director of Football Recruitment Nils Koppen stated “we feel he can be a success at the football club”, but Rangers supporters have barely seen any of that to date.
So, let’s take a look at Bajrami’s season statistics.
Appearances
41
10th
Minutes
2,374
12th
Goals
5
8th
Assists
4
7th
Shots per game
1.9
5th
Big chances created
4
8th
As the table highlights, while Bajrami’s season has been far from catastrophic, he’s been pretty underwhelming, with only one of his five goals coming since December’s League Cup Final.
Nevertheless, to be fair to him, he’s been far from Rangers’ biggest flop of the season.
Rangers' forgotten attacker
Back in January 2024, Rangers signed Colombia winger from Lens on a six-month loan, before confirming last summer that they’d extended this loan by a further year, which included ‘an obligation to buy’, believed to be worth £3.5m.
At the time, he was praised for his quality, with one source describing the 21-year-old as a ‘skilful and direct winger’, adding that he’s exactly the profile of player Rangers really needed.
However, now, Pete O’Rourke of Football Insider believes the ‘gamble’ of agreeing to an obligation to buy has not paid off, with Rangers legend Kris Boyd describing this decision as “baffling”.
So, let’s assess Cortés’ Rangers career so far in numbers.
Appearances
16
Minutes
650
Goals
1
Assists
2
Matches missed due to injury
54
% of matches missed injured
72%
Pretty early on in his Rangers career, Cortés both scored and assisted during a 5-0 demolition of Hearts at Ibrox, but has barely contributed since.
The 2-2 draw at Pittodrie a fortnight ago, ahead of which Barry Ferguson made nine outfield changes, was only the Colombian’s eighth start for the club, and first since December, hooked at half-time with Aberdeen 2-0 in front and the Gers down to ten-men.
Speaking on BBC Sportsound, Tom English stated that Cortés is one of many Rangers players who are simply “not good enough”, adding that it is a disaster that they’re obliged to buy someone “who’s contributed zero” for “a lot of money”.
Thus, having signed a contract until 2029, the Colombian has plenty of time to turn his Rangers career around, but has shown very little sign of doing just that so far. Perhaps, hasty exit needs to be on the cards this summer.
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