One of Rangers biggest recruitment problems this season was signing too many attacking midfielders, an issue Philippe Clement has to fix.
On top of Todd Cantwell, Tom Lawrence, Ianis Hagi and Alex Lowry, Michael Beale added Jose Cifuentes, Kieran Dowell and Sam Lammers who all did their best work in the final third.
So why would Rangers be linked with another in Coventry City’s Callum O’Hare, a player who is going to be available on a free transfer in the summer and who lit up Wembley against Man Utd recently?
Rangers interest in Callum O’Hare doesn’t add up
The 25-year old playmaker has had a solid season in the championship, however, there is one key reason why Clement will likely avoid him despite the report from TBR Football.
O’Hare is just back from ACL knee surgery.
With a manager who wants a more robust and durable squad, this is not the type of profile that inspires confidence.
Speaking not long after he joined the club, the Gers boss was at a loss with why the queue for the treatment room was so long:
“It’s quite a puzzle, it’s the biggest puzzle that I ever saw, to be honest with all the injuries.
“We started with a lot of players who are not available, some players then falling out in the last couple of weeks.
“It will be very important every game to look really good at the minutes of every player and try to build their physical condition and robustness to have a bigger squad available in the next couple of months.”
Rangers are heading in a new direction for recruitment
It’s been an issue that has affected the Rangers manager all season.
Players like Borna Barisic, Ryan Jack and Kemar Roofe, who have all spent time on the sidelines are expected to leave in the summer and Clement will want the money spent on players who can be relied upon to be available.
On a tight budget, there needs to be less risk, not more.
With Nils Koppen running recruitment, there needs to be a new direction.
Too many players have been signed in recent years with either question marks about their form or question marks about their fitness.
Callum O’Hare is a talented player who has a similar style of play to Ilkay Gundogen as his 6 goals and 3 assists from 17 league starts prove, but it is the last statistic that has to be considered this summer.
Quality isn’t enough, being available is an underrated attribute, but if it wasn’t for players like Cyriel Dessers staying fit for practically every game, who knows what sort of state we’d be in.