Rangers brought striker Umar Sadiq to Ibrox this summer.
Rangers have enjoyed a strong start to life under new boss Steven Gerrard, but one of his summer signings isn’t quite flourishing just yet.
The Gers tasted defeat for the first time under Gerrard in Sunday’s 1-0 Old Firm defeat to Celtic, but having gone 12 games unbeaten before that, and qualified for the Europa League group stage, there is plenty to be encouraged about.
Many of his new signings have settled in seamlessly; Allan McGregor, Nikola Katic and Connor Goldson have impressed at the back, whilst Ovie Ejaria and Scott Arfield have added more quality in midfield.
Unfortunately, Rangers haven’t quite seen the best of new striker Umar Sadiq just yet, and there are real concerns about him after failing to even make the bench against Celtic.
The Nigerian forward, 21, is on a season-long loan deal from Roma, but Gerrard has been talking about the striker not being fit enough to play since his arrival almost two months ago.
With one league appearance to his name and seemingly no spot for him on a bench lacking attacking options against Celtic, Sadiq is already drawing comparisons to Dalcio among Rangers fans.
Winger Dalcio was one of Pedro Caixinha’s first Rangers signings last summer but was a complete flop with Rangers, as he played just once in the league before being sent back to Benfica having made no impact at Ibrox.
His struggles are somewhat reminiscent of Sadiq, as a young foreign player struggling to really settle down on loan in Glasgow, and with Alfredo Morelos signing a new deal and Kyle Lafferty now at the club, it’s hard to see where Sadiq features right now – and whilst his situation can of course change, the fears of another Dalcio are strong amongst Rangers supporters.
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