Whether there is any truth to reports linking Ridvan Yilmaz with a January departure from Ibrox, the fact that such reports exist in the first place is testament to how things have gone for the highly-rated Turkey international in Rangers blue.
When Yilmaz arrived from Besiktas for a fee that could rise to £5 million – a colossal sum for even one of Scotland’s biggest clubs – he was expected to bring about the end of Borna Barisic’s time as a regular starter on this particular side of Glasgow.
Instead, Barisic has responded to renewed competition with a sudden upturn in form. Thus, leaving Yilmaz lingering rather awkwardly on the sidelines. So far, there’s been just four appearances. Just 75 minutes in the Scottish Premiership.
And while it can take time for any young player to adapt to a new country and a new league – particularly one as physical and fast-paced as the Scottish Premiership – the fact is that we are now two-and-a-half months into the season and, while Ben Davies and Rabbi Matondo are starting to make their mark, while Antonio Colak is scoring goals for fun, Yilmaz appears no closer to forcing his way into Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s XI.
Rangers signed Ridvan Yilmaz after Tottenham Hotspur links
“Giovanni and Rangers have questions to answer. Yilmaz is the puzzler for me because that was a lot of money. He’s been on the bench all the time but surely he’s close to getting gametime?” former Gers ace Neil McCann asked BBC Scotland a couple of weeks ago.
Since then, Yilmaz has played just 12 minutes of football.
And if the attack-minded 21-year-old cannot make his mark against the likes of St Johnstone, Ross County and Dundee United, then a move to Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur would almost certainly have been a step too steep at this stage of his career. He was, by the way, left on the bench against all three of those aforementioned Premiership sides.
According to reports, Yilmaz was a target for Tottenham Hotspur at the start of the summer. And before you can say ‘club signing’, Antonio Conte managed to convince Spurs to change up their transfer policy with Ivan Perisic a rare example of Daniel Levy agreeing to sign a player at the other end of his career.
What next, then, for Yilmaz? This would not be the first time Rangers have cut ties early with an underwhelming addition; see Mateusz Zukowski, Juninho Bacuna.
And, amid so many concerns over the club’s recruitment team, Rangers selling Yilmaz after just 75 minutes of league football would hardly be a fitting response to those critics.
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