Rangers may have got lucky escape with £6m man who is ‘just not performing’
Gijs Smal’s terrible record at FC Twente is doing little to suggest that Rangers should have recruited the out-of-sorts Dutchman to the
Scottish Premiership during the winter window.
When the left-back was linked with a move to Ibrox over a month ago, he was still riding the wave of a great 2022/23 campaign. Gijs
Smal finished the Eredivisie with ten assists, more than any other player.
At the time, Ridvan Yilmaz looked destined to depart too, the Turkey international seemingly free to leave after struggling to oust
Borna Barisic at Ibrox. Flash forward to late-February, and quite a lot has changed, for both players.
3-0 win at St Johnstone – Philippe Clement shuffling his pack in an attempt to avoid burn-out – came as quite a surprise.
There were far fewer shocked faces in Enschede, however, when Gijs Smal was dragged off after just 65 minutes during FC Twente’s
insipid 1-0 home defeat to Utrecht.
Gijs Smal struggling to justify Rangers interest
Smal has not scored or assisted on a goal in 2023–24, despite registering 14 goals or assists in the previous season.
Even though Smal did miss the opening part of the season due to a calf injury, he has now returned to first-team play for four months.
It is no longer acceptable to use a lack of match fitness as an excuse; the Twente Inside website calls his current form “poor.”
With his contract expiring and the Dutchman doing little to warrant an offer of new terms, the once-£6 million-rated Smal is now
facing the possibility of being moved out of De Grolsch Veste for no reason, according to Leon ten Voorde, a Dutch reporter who
specializes in all things FC Twente.
Ten Voorde tells TC Tubantia, “After his injury, Small deserves a lot of credit.” “However, you have to watch your step if you don’t
want to resign, if you’re simply not playing, and if another left-back was brought in during the winter break.”
The challenge for Smal currently comes from Anass Salah-Eddine. Prior to moving from Ajax to Twente in January, he was also connected to Rangers.
Ten Voorde continues, “You can consider, ‘Maybe we should definitely be looking at someone else,’
if you don’t want to resign and you are not performing.”
A Borna Barisic replacement is still needed
Rangers will probably look to get a new left-back again in the summer since Barisic’s deal expires in July. Right now, every indication
suggests that Philippe Clement’s team will try again to entice Jefte Vital to move from Fluminense to Glasgow.
It almost goes without saying that additional performances like the one he put on against Utrecht would do Smal no favors if he is to
push Jefte for the role of Rangers’ first-choice left-back target.
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