Rangers transfer news: After initially being skeptical, Heart and Hand respond to the “huge” Mohamed Diomande update.

 

According to David Edgar, Rangers’ £4.5 million signing bonus for Mohamed Diomande this month represents a “huge outlay” for the January transfer window.

The news that the Light Blues were spending the equivalent of 40 million Danish Kroner for the young Ivorian was first published by BT in Denmark earlier that day. The Heart & Hand Podcast man responded to the story on Twitter on January 23.

Although Storm Isha caused travel delays, the 22-year-old FC Nordsjaelland player is scheduled to join Wolves on loan after Fabio Silva in the winter window at Ibrox.

“I was initially skeptical, but it appears that the fee for Diomande is actually 4.5 million,” Edgar wrote.

“High expenditure for January.”

John Bennett had indicated that Philippe Clement would receive backing in January when speaking at the AGM [Rangers Review, 5 December], and despite the past three weeks making it appear that there wasn’t the cash behind the manager to splash out the chairman appears to have stuck to his word.

Diomande is not the target many would have expected such a sizeable sum to be spent on this month, with no prizes for guessing that Lawrence Shankland would have likely been the first named by many.

But if he is rated as highly as some seem to think then perhaps it is a deal that simply couldn’t be passed up if it was possible.

Signing him before many other interested clubs could prove to be a brilliant move if he can start playing right away.

However, with Danilo already down for an extended period of time, Kemar Roofe only appearing in flashes, and now ailing Abdallah Sima having not played a minute for Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations, this Rangers team is perilously thin on goal threats.

Compared to his Ibrox debut, Cyriel Dessers is likely becoming more of a hit than a miss, but his performance against Dumbarton indicated he can’t be the main man the entire season depends on. Silva should assist, but he isn’t a specialist striker and has never exactly been prolific.

A number nine would make a lot of sense if there is any more money available, as Rangers now seem to be looking at James Tavernier as their main scoring threat.

In other Rangers news, the manager has stated that the expectation is for an attacking player to depart prior to the window closing.