This summer, the Light Blues hope to bolster their roster with the addition of the talented 20-year-old.
Glasgow Rangers are trying to bolster their roster before the 2024–25 season begins later this year, and they have come out of the gates this summer.
Although Scotland’s opening match of Euro 2024 is against Germany on Friday, the summer transfer window officially opens on that day. Despite this, the Ibrox giants have already done a lot of business.
Three newBecause of Garcia’s potential and skill when out of possession in the middle of the park, Rangers might now excellently replace Lundstram by signing the young master.
First of all, at twenty years old, he is a full ten years younger than the Englishman. This suggests that the Penarol star may be Clement’s long-term project, with plenty of time left for him to mature and get better.
Second, based on his performance for club and nation, the Uruguay U20 international’s athleticism and defensive prowess may allow him to contribute more off the ball.
Garcia stood out at the 2023 U20 World Cup, which his nation won. Throughout his seven games, he recorded 2.6 tackles and interceptions per game, a 60% duel success rate, and a 55% ground battle success rate.
The 5 foot 10 maestro, who was dubbed a “leader” by South American football writer Nathan Joyes, demonstrated his defensive prowess by outmuscling opponents in duels and demonstrating his ability to retain possession at an impressive rate in deep build-up, where he completed 91% of his passes in his own half. The first is Oscar Cortes, who has returned to Lens on loan for a second spell with an obligation to make the agreement permanent next summer.
Brazilian left-back The club subsequently announced that Clinton Nsiala, a 20-year-old French center-back, will join the Gers next month when his contract with AC Milan expires. Jefte was then brought in from Fluminense on a permanent basis.
Yusuf Kabadayi, a German winger, is reportedly getting close to signing a permanent contract to go from German powerhouse Bayern Munich to Glasgow.
Given that Ryan Jack, Kemar Roofe, Jon McLaughlin, Borna Barisic, John Lundstram, and Kemar Roofe all departed Ibrox on free transfers last month, the Light Blues might be making rapid moves in the transfer market to make up for their losses.
Rangers want to compete deal for midfield whiz
Kabadayi could be the fourth senior addition of the transfer window for the club but there could be a fifth not long after, if the Gers get their wish.
According to the Heart & Hand Podcast’s daily Patreon update , Rangers are ‘keen’ to complete a deal to sign Penarol central midfielder Damian Garcia.
The report claims that his current contract with the club is due to expire at the end of the calendar year, which would make him a free agent for the January transfer window.
However, the Light Blues, like they did with Jose Cifuentes’ move from LAFC last summer, would like to pay a fee to bring him in now rather than waiting for a potential scramble to land him on a free in the winter.
The update states that that the Scottish giants are ‘very keen’ on Garcia and are now looking to complete a deal to bring him to Ibrox, although it remains to be seen how much Penarol are set to demand for his services.
Rangers could now brilliantly replace Lundstram, whose contract expired at the end of last month, by pushing to land the 20-year-old starlet this summer.
John Lundstram’s season in numbers for Rangers
Throughout the 2023–24 season, the former Sheffield United midfielder saw highs and lows, with some outstanding performances interspersed with some, to put it mildly, unimpressive ones.
With his consistent passing and capacity to provide assists in the closing third, his quality of possession proved helpful to the Gers in the base of the midfield.
In the Scottish Premiership, he led the team in pass completion percentage (88.5%), tied for sixth place in critical passes per game (1.5), and second only to James Tavernier (ten) in assists (five).
Only one other player had more assists than the central midfielder, according to these stats, demonstrating his inventiveness in the middle of the pitch.
But the 30-year-old’s performance out of possession was lacking, as he occasionally had trouble keeping up with the speed of the game, especially in the Old Firm games.
| John Lundstram | Vs Celtic (11/05/24) |
|---|---|
| Minutes played | 47 |
| Sofascore rating | 5.1 |
| Red cards | 1 |
| Own goals | 1 |
| Ground duels won | 2/7 |
| Aerial duels won | 1/3 |
As you can see in the table above, Lundstram’s last league appearance for Rangers, against Celtic, was a horror show as he scored an own goal and was sent off for a challenge on Alistair Johnston all before half time.
He struggled in physical battles throughout the game, as shown by three duels won out of ten, and that was a common theme throughout the season as the English dud lost 51% of his ground battles in the Premiership.
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