Van Bronckhorst relaxed as suitors circle key figures
With clock ticking on contracts and speculation surrounding stars, Ibrox manager remains calm
THERE is a degree of uncertainty surrounding Rangers’ squad at the moment, with a number of players linked with moves away from Ibrox.
Ianis Hagi, Joe Aribo, Ryan Kent, Borna Barisic and most notably Connor Goldson have been touted for big-money moves south of the border in recent weeks.
The speculation has intensified with the recent departure of Steven Gerrard, and some have already surrendered to the notion that the former Ibrox manager will attempt to lure some of his previous acquaintances at Aston Villa.
Others like Steven Davis and Allan McGregor are reaching the tail end of their Rangers careers and it remains to be seen whether they will continue beyond the end of this season.
New manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst refuses to admit that he will be in for a busy January transfer window, but the Dutchman insists the Scottish Premiership champions must be braced for impact.
Asked if he expects a busy beginning to 2022, van Bronckhorst said: “I don’t know yet. It’s a difficult one. As a coach, I’ve had many transfer windows. It’s hard to predict what can happen because anything can happen. I know that.
“The most important thing is to be prepared in whatever comes. The work will have to be done until the window opens.
“We’ll see. It can go either way but hopefully at the end of the window we have a better squad than when it opens, maybe.”
Van Bronckhorst also hasn’t ruled out the possibility of bringing back some of Rangers’ loanees who are currently out plying their trade across Europe.
Croatian Niko Katic is the most likely to return with central defenders Filip
Helander and Leon Balogun both currently out injured.
On that possibility, Van Bronckhorst added: “We have to see how it develops in the coming weeks. The transfer window will open and we are discussing what has to be done.
“So far, nothing has been decided yet in bringing some new players in defence.”
Van Bronckhorst could have no choice but to move for defensive cover if Connor Goldson decides to exit Ibrox this January.
The Englishman is out of contract at the end of the campaign and is free to open talks with interested parties over a Bosman switch.
On talks between the club and the player, Van Bronckhorst explained: “I spoke to Ross Wilson about it today. He is still talking with his agents. So there is nothing new we have to say.
“It’s still on speaking terms with the agents, so we have to wait. I think they are talking. I saw reports he has rejected an offer but that is untrue.
“They are still talking so hopefully we can have more news in the coming weeks or months. It’s always tough when you have players going out of contract at the end of the season.
“But really I don’t have a clue what will happen. Maybe when I talk to Connor myself in the coming days or weeks, I will have more of a view on that. But so far I don’t have anything to say on that matter.
“It’s the first couple of weeks so for me the most important thing was to know the squad, know the players and of course win games. For me, those were the most important things.
“I’ve got to know the squad a lot better than when I arrived. Of course, in the coming days and weeks I will also speak with the players about their futures. So far I haven’t because my focus was 100 per cent on winning the games.
I don’t have a clue what will happen. Maybe when I talk to Connor myself in the coming days or weeks, I will have more of a view on that
“So far I haven’t had time to speak with the players personally about their futures.”
Rangers have a quick turnaround from Wednesday’s Premiership win over Hibernian as they welcome Dundee to Ibrox today.
Van Bronckhorst was delighted that his team managed to get over the line against their capital opponents midweek and he was particularly pleased with the defensive display.
“I think it starts from defending well,” he said. “Of course, you want to be very solid in defence. Not only defenders, it starts from the striker.
“If you can avoid the goals against you, we always create chances to score so it will make the chances higher that we are going to win games.
“We only lost one goal against Livingston, in the other games we kept a zero. For me it’s very important to keep the zero.”
Ryan Jack will return to the Rangers squad at Ibrox and Van Bronckhorst is keen to get
him up to speed as quickly as possible. He added: “Ryan will be in the squad tomorrow. Of course, he hasn’t played a lot of games in the last six or seven months.
“I know he is an important player to the squad. We want him back as soon as possible. He can give good things to the playing squad.
“We know he has to build up his minutes. In the next weeks, hopefully I can give him some more minutes and he can be back to his full fitness.”
Meanwhile, Leon Balogun will return to training on Sunday as he looks to build up his return from injury after limping out of last month’s League Cup defeat to Hibs.
Rangers also confirmed that Nnamdi Ofoborh is continuing to be tested for a heart problem that has hindered his Ibrox career since moving from Bournemouth in the summer.
Van Bronckhorst said: “At the moment, he is still being tested. I spoke with him when I arrived, and we just have to wait when he sees the doctors’ results and we can go from there.”