Zinedine Ferhat is “very disappointed” to be playing in the French second tier after a £4 million move to Scottish Premiership champions Rangers failed to materialise, Nimes coach Pascal Plancque has told Fennec Football.
If there was one player who didn’t deserve to suffer the heartbreak of relegation last season, it was Ferhat.
With six goals and ten assists in Ligue 1, the Algeria international certainly did his best to keep Nimes in the top flight.
But with the rest of his teammates failing to match Ferhat’s lofty standards, the talented playmaker has little choice but to spend his weekends facing Paris FC rather than Paris Saint-Germain, Le Havre rather than Lyon.
In May, FootMercato reported Steven Gerrard’s Rangers were looking into a potential £4 million deal for Ferhat.
But after reinforcing their midfield with former Sheffield United ace John Lundstram and Huddersfield Town’s Juninho Bacuna instead, a paucity of offers meant Ferhat had little choice but to stick around at Nimes.
Could Zinedine Ferhat still end up at Rangers?
“It is true Zinedine is very disappointed to be still here. Obviously with the season and the stats he had last year, he was hoping to leave,” Plancque admits.
“But I believe many players haven’t realised that with the covid and TV rights (French football was thrown into crisis when their Mediapro broadcast deal collapsed), we have moved into a different world of football.
“A year or two back, (Ferhat) would have easily found a club. Unfortunately for him, he did not find the offer he was waiting for.”
Rangers have found goals relatively hard to come by this season – netting more than two in a game only three times out of a possible nine – with Ianis Hagi, Joe Aribo and Scott Arfield struggling for consistency.
Who knows, perhaps Ferhat will find himself back on Rangers’ radar come January?
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