Rangers: Philippe Clement confirms Europa League squad, new signing left out

Rangers manager Philippe Clement has revealed which players would be left out of the Europa League knockout stages.

On Friday (2 February), the Gers manager submitted a 25-man roster to UEFA, which did not contain any homegrown players.

New signing. Oscar Cortes, Leon Balogun, and Kieran Dowell all be left out of the team.

Sam Lammers was removed from the original list in August due to his departure, and Jose Cifuentes is on the verge of leaving as well.

Ridvan Yilmaz, Fabio Silva, and Mohamed Diomande have all been brought on.

“If you look at finding a balance, then Ridvan needs to be in,” Clement stated, according to the Daily Record [2 February].

“You need two full-backs; this was an issue in the first round. We didn’t have a left-back in case Borna Barisic went down.

“That was a challenging point on the European list I filed today. Fabio Silva replaces Sam Lammers. That is logical. Cifu is probably gone, so Diomande steps in.

“Ridvan will be added to the roster, which means Leon Balogun, Kieran Dowell, and Cortes will be excluded. That hurts me.

“We’ve been puzzling with the staff for hours over the last few days, and you’ve always came to the same conclusion. You can’t maintain the balance unless you make these modifications.”

Philippe Clement makes toughest Rangers call yet

Clement may appear to have been with the Rangers for a long time, but he is only four months into his tenure.

During that period, the Belgian coach demonstrated that he is not afraid to make bold moves while being steadfast on others.

This is arguably the most difficult choice Clement has had to make in that time, and it would have resulted in some painful conversations behind the scenes.

Ultimately, the person in charge made the right decision. Ridvan Yilmaz had to intervene after being curiously disregarded in the first place.

Diomande and Silva appear to be key players for the rest of the season, leaving Cortes as an outlier.

If the Lens loanee had known about Clement’s plans ahead of time, one has to wonder if he would have made the move.

Now that the roster has been finalised, the countdown to the last-16 tie can begin.

Read more news  on https://sportupdates.co.uk/