Rangers have Ryan Kent replacement in reported £2.5m player – report

Michael Beale faces a big call against PSV Eindhoven, who he chooses in Rangers front three could decide his Champions League fate and in Rabbi Matondo, we might see a big turnaround in fortunes.

In the last two years, Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Steven Gerrard didn’t have much to choose from whereas the current Light Blues boss is almost spoilt for choice.

It’s the one area that has seen the most money spent on it but Michael Beale is yet to find the right combination to get Rangers firing, could a surprise start from the cold be on the cards for Rabbi Matondo?

The Welsh winger who cost a reported £2.5m looked fired up during the win over Morton at the weekend.

Clearly determined to prove he should have more playing time, the Rangers number 17 has insisted that he is ready to fight to force his way into the manager’s plans and has done his chances no harm at all.

In midfield, it looks like four going into three with Ryan Jack the most likely to anchor and Jose Cifuentes, Nicolas Raskin and Todd Cantwell providing the energy and spark.

The latter will, probably, repeat his Servette roll and play in a more advanced roll whilst helping out in midfield out of possession.

What this does is leaves two spaces in attack with Cyriel Dessers, Danilo, Sam Lammers, Abdallah Sima and Kemar Roofe to choose from.

However, under Steven Gerrard, Rangers frequently played with Ryan Kent offering more width – Rabbi Matondo is perfect for the role that the former winger used to do so well in Europe.

The other advantage is that the 22-year old knows the system having played it for longer than any of the other options and would be playing in the position that caught our attention in the first place.

Domestically, Rangers should be playing Rabbi Matondo more often given how much we dominate possession but in Europe it is a different matter.

Matondo looked as confident as he has since joining against Morton and if I had to trust anyone out of our current options to do a job, it would be the player whose pace alone is enough to cause full-backs and opposition defenders problems.

Coventry City and Middlesbrough join race to sign Rangers midfielder, talks ongoing

Coventry City and Middlesbrough have both had high profile departures this summer, with Viktor Gyokeres, Gustavo Hamer and Chuba Akpom leaving their respected clubs, and so the pair certainly have money to spend.

The Sky Blues have secured the big money signing of Haji Wright in a club-record deal, whilst Boro have wasted no time in putting their incoming Akpom transfer fee to use with double capture of Emmanuel Latte Lath and Lukas Engel last week.

But both sides don’t look to be done there and are looking to go one better than their play-off defeats and attempt to win promotion to the top flight. A player that Coventry City and Middlesbrough have identified as a potential target is Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara.

According to TEAMtalk, the 27-year-old has held talks with three sides, with the duo joining Leeds United in their pursuit of the Ibrox man.

Coventry City look to have a settled midfield two of Josh Eccles and Ben Sheaf and so the introduction of Kamara may not guarantee playing time. He would offer something different to what is already at Mark Robins’ disposal however.

Middlesbrough on the other hand have chopped and changed in midfield with the only constant being Hayden Hackney. Dan Barlaser and Jonny Howson have rotated, and the former doesn’t look to be performing to the best of his ability, whilst Howson is now 35 years old and nearing the final stages of his career.

Therefore, if it came down to the two clubs, Kamara may be better off opting for Middlesbrough due to the playing time, not only in the short-term but in the long-term too, given Howson’s age. But despite the two clubs joining the race, Leeds United could well be the preferred destination for the Finland international. Only time will tell.