Rangers eyeing up move for “immense” star

Glasgow Rangers have a two-week break in the last international window of the year to reflect on the season so far and how they can improve in the months to come.

Philippe Clement will surely have mixed feelings about how his side have performed throughout the 2024/25 campaign, as the Light Blues have been miles off the pace in the Scottish Premiership.

The Gers have already lost three games and dropped points in four of their ten games, which has left them in third place and nine points behind Aberdeen and Celtic in the table.

They also failed to qualify for the Champions League, losing to Dynamo Kyiv, and are currently competing in the league phase of the Europa League.

The Scottish giants have had success in the League Cup, however, as they secured their place in the final with a 2-1 win over Motherwell in the semi-finals at Hampden Park.

Clement and head of recruitment Nils Koppen have less than two months to prepare for the upcoming January transfer window, and could use it to bolster the squad and improve the team’s chances of having a successful second half of the season.

Rangers eyeing wing wizard

In fact, the Ibrox chiefs are already reportedly looking at new players who could come in to add to the manager’s options across the pitch in January.

According to journalist Graeme Bailey, Rangers are interested in Peterborough’s Kwame Poku and are one of a number of clubs in the race to land his signature.

The report claims that the Scottish giants have sent scouts to watch the Ghana international in action in League One in England this season, but they are far from the only team to have done so.

It states that Premier League duo Southampton and Ipswich Town, who are both battling relegation this season, and Championship side Burnley have also been keeping tabs on the forward ahead of a potential swoop for his services in the January window.

The Boot Room adds that the 23-year-old winger is also out of contract at the end of the season, which means that Peterborough are in a difficult position where they cannot demand a huge sum of money for his signature, as he could leave for nothing next summer.

Rangers also have an advantage over Southampton, Ipswich, and Burnley as – due to being a team outside of England – they can agree a pre-contract agreement with Poku from January onwards, whereas the English sides have to wait until the end of the 2024/25 campaign.

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Clement and Koppen must, now, take advantage of this and strike a deal for the young whiz, whether that is in January or next summer, as he could arrive at Ibrox as an upgrade on current right-sided flanker Vaclav Cerny.

Vaclav Cerny’s form this season

The Light Blues swooped to sign the Czechia international on a season-long loan from Bundesliga side Wolfsburg during the summer transfer window.

Cerny has enjoyed a relatively strong start to life at Ibrox, despite reacting emotionally to supporter frustration against Hibernian earlier this term, and has contributed with six goals and five assists in 18 appearances across all competitions.

His form in the league phase of the Europa League has been particularly impressive. The left-footed winger has produced two goals and two assists in four starts in the competition, including two goals and an assist in the 4-0 win over FCSB.

Cerny has, however, had mixed success with his performances in the Premiership for the Light Blues, with struggles out of possession and moments of quality on the ball.

As you can see in the table above, the 27-year-old ace has contributed with five direct goal involvements in nine appearances, which is more than one every other game on average.

This shows that, even though he has not been an outstanding creative threat, the Wolfsburg loanee has made a big impact at the top end of the pitch.

However, his duel success rate of 28% and his failure to average even one tackle and interception combined per game shows that the winger has struggled badly out of possession, as he has not offered much defensively and has been dominated by opposition players in physical battles.

Why Kwame Poku would be an upgrade on Vaclav Cerny

The Light Blues must now swoop to sign Poku from Peterborough as the 23-year-old star has the potential to offer more in and out of possession in comparison to Cerny.

Journalist Josh Bunting once hailed his work rate as “immense” and that is backed up by his 1.7 tackles and interceptions per game in League One this season, more than twice as many as Cerny’s per match.

The Ghana international has also won 47% of his duels, winning 5.7 duels per game, which shows that he fares far better than the Rangers man in physical contests, and these statistics suggest that the youngster would be a significant upgrade on the wing from a physical and defensive perspective.

Poku’s attacking displays for Peterborough in the 2024/25 campaign also suggest that the potential is there for him to be an upgrade on Cerny in the final third for the Scottish giants.

As you can see in the table above, the current Rangers forward would need to score six goals and provide four assists in his next six Premiership games to equal Poku’s return for the Posh.

The Peterborough star, who scored 11 goals and provided seven assists in the 2023/24 campaign, has also produced two assists in two games in the FA Cup and EFL Trophy combined, taking his tally to ten goals and seven assists in 17 games.

If he can carry that kind of form over to Scotland then Clement could have a ready-made upgrade on Cerny to take over from the loanee when he returns to Wolfsburg at the end of the season.

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