Glasgow Rangers continued their preparations for the 2025/26 campaign with a behind-closed-doors friendly clash at St. George’s Park on Saturday.
The Light Blues were held to a 1-1 draw, as Danilo scored the only goal for the Ibrox side.
There is still plenty of work left to be done before Rangers face their Champions League qualifiers later this month, not least on the transfer front.
Sheffield Wednesday winger Djeidi Gassama looks set to be the next player through the door. When asked about the forward’s arrival, Russell Martin said: “We’re waiting on their end to be sorted but we fully expect Gass to be our player hopefully fairly, very, very soon. We need to try and strengthen as many areas as possible.”
The 21-year-old attacker, who predominantly plays on the left flank, appears to be on the verge of joining the likes of Thelo Aasgaard, Nasser Djiga, Joe Rothwell, Emmanuel Fernandez, Max Aarons, and Lyall Cameron at Ibrox.
What Djeidi Gassama could bring to Rangers
Gassama is far from the finished article and supporters should not expect him to immediately be an incredible talent who is going to produce 20 goals and assists in his first season.
At the age of 21, he has plenty left to learn and plenty of time left ahead of him to develop and improve, which means that the winger will be a long-term signing for the Gers on a permanent deal from the Owls.
However, that does not mean that Gassama will not be a useful player for Martin to call upon at Ibrox next season, because he produced a decent amount of quality in the final third in the Championship last season.
In the 2024/25 campaign, the French dynamo scored seven goals and provided one assist in 43 appearances for Sheffield Wednesday, who were not competing for promotion from the division.
xG
5.92
Top 16%
Goals
7
Top 14%
Shots on target
23
Top 14%
Chances created
38
Top 23%
xA
2.54
Top 32%
Assists
1
Bottom 27%
Touches in the opposition box
153
Top 6%
As you can see in the table above, he ranked well among his positional peers as a goalscorer and was unfortunate to only have one assist, as his teammates let him down with wasteful finishing.
These statistics suggest that he could be an exciting player for supporters to watch as a winger who constantly gets himself into high-quality goalscoring positions by taking plenty of touches in the opposition’s box.
Gassama will not be the only winger to arrive at Ibrox this summer, though, and the Light Blues are reportedly eyeing a forward who is even better than the Owls sensation.
Rangers battling to sign Premier League forward
According to The Scottish Sun, Rangers are one of the teams eyeing up a deal to sign Crystal Palace winger Jesurun Rak-Sakyi before the end of the summer transfer window.
The report claims that Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers have joined the race to land the left-footed forward, who spent the 2024/25 campaign on loan at Sheffield United.
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It states that Wolves are looking to reinvest some of the cash that they brought in from the sale of Matheus Cunha to Manchester United, and they have identified the Eagles youngster as a target.
The Scottish Sun reveals that Rangers, who are now battling the Old Gold for the winger, would like to bring the 22-year-old star to Ibrox on a season-long loan, as they are not prepared to pay the £10m asking price for a permanent move.
However, it remains to be seen whether or not Wolves will stump up the £10m required to sign Rak-Sakyi, which means that the Gers are still in the race at this moment in time.
Why Rak-Sakyi is even better than Gassama
The English forward would be an even better signing for Rangers next season than Gassama with the immediate future in mind, as he could hit the ground running as a star for the Light Blues in the coming months.
Rak-Sakyi, who was hailed as “wonderful” by U23 scout Antonio Mango, only started 22 games in the Championship for Sheffield United last term, but racked up seven goals, 3.48 xA, and two assists for the promotion-chasing Blades.
Despite his limited game time, the right-sided winger showed that he can make a big impact in front of goal, which suggests that he could thrive at Ibrox as a regular starter under Martin if he arrives in Glasgow this summer.
The £10m-rated star, who delivered 15 goals and nine assists for Charlton in the 2022/23 campaign, could offer more in the final third than Gassama at the start of next season, as he heavily outperformed the Sheffield Wednesday man in the Championship when on the pitch.
xG
0.18
0.32
Goals
0.21
0.36
xA
0.08
0.18
Assists
0.03
0.10
Chances created
1.14
1.51
Dribbles completed
1.99
2.44
Touches in the opposition box
4.60
7.69
As you can see in the table above, Rak-Sakyi outperformed the French whiz as a scorer, a creator, and as a dribbler in the second tier of English football, in terms of what he offered per 90.
These statistics suggest that the left-footed star is more likely to offer consistent quality in front of goal as a scorer and a creator of goals for Rangers if given regular game time than Gassama is next season, given their respective performances at the same level last term.
Therefore, Rak-Sakyi could be a terrific signing for Rangers to immediately add goals and assists to the team on the right flank ahead of the Champions League qualifiers later this month.
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It is now down to the Gers, though, to convince Palace to send the winger to Ibrox on loan for the season, despite interest from Wolves in a permanent deal for the young attacker.