Glasgow Rangers are six more wins away from greatness as they seek to add the Scottish Cup and Premiership trophies to their League Cup success from earlier this season.
Philippe Clement must lead his team to five more victories in the top flight – including a first win at Parkhead since 2020 – if he wants to lead the Light Blues to the title, and even then, it might not be enough.
The club have stuttered when it mattered most, drawing against Celtic and Dundee while suffering an embarrassing loss to Ross County which has given their Old Firm rivals the advantage in the title race.
The truth is, Clement somehow managed to get a tune out of his current crop of players following the sacking of Michael Beale, but he dearly needs to build his own side in order to kickstart a new era at Ibrox ahead of the 2024/25 season.
The best way of doing that? Moving on players who have let the club down of late, most notably, Connor Goldson.
Rangers transfer news
In recent months, former Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has shown interest in taking James Tavernier from Glasgow to Saudi Arabia, as he looks to reunite with his former captain at Al-Ettifaq.
Considering the right-back has scored 24 goals while grabbing ten assists in all competitions this season, Clement surely won't be keen on losing his top goalscorer, regardless of his failure to spur on the Light Blues when it really matters.
It now appears Gerrard isn’t just keen on bringing Tavernier to the Middle East, seeking a deal to sign Goldson too.
While Tav’s goals are indispensable, Goldson is certainly replaceable this summer, especially if the right transfer fee is offered by Gerrard.
That’s according to the Scottish Sun, who claim that the former Liverpool icon is desperate to make a double raid on his old team in order to lure Tavernier and Goldson to Asia.
Gerrard even previously dubbed Goldson a “mountain” back in 2019, clearly rating the £37k-per-week titan highly.
It is unclear how much of a budget Clement will have to work with this summer, but if a fee can be arranged to move on Goldson, then perhaps it might not be the worst idea in the world, especially as the money could be used to bring a few younger players to the Gers.
All eras come to an end, but it looks as though the 50-year-old Belgian could be set on putting sentiment to one side this summer and looking at the bigger picture.
Connor Goldson’s statistics this season
By taking a look at his statistics for the Ibrox side this season, it certainly looks as though he has enjoyed a productive campaign.
Among his teammates, Goldson currently ranks third with regard to overall Sofascore rating (7.32) in the top flight, while even ranking third for accurate passes per game (60.1), second for accurate long balls per game (5.6), fifth for tackles per game (1.5) and third for clearances per game (2.8), proving that, statistically anyway, he is among one of the finest performers in the squad across these metrics.
Metric
Europa League
Premiership
Accurate passes per game
42.6
60.1
Total duels won per game
5.1
6.1
Clean sheets
2
15
Possession lost per game
8.6
10.8
Tackles per game
1.4
1.5
The centre-back has also won a staggering 6.1 total duels per game – a success rate of 69% – in the Premiership this term while helping his team keep 15 clean sheets in 33 matches. On the surface, it looks as though he has enjoyed a very good season.
Although stats are a great tool for examining a player’s performance, they don’t show everything. At times this term, Goldson has been suspect, especially from long balls sent over the defence.
Against Aberdeen last year, Bojan Miovski pounced on an error by Goldson as he was caught in no man's land, going on to score the opener.
In the defeat to Ross County a few weeks ago, the veteran defender was suspect yet again as Rangers conceded three goals, all of which could arguably have been prevented.
Even against Celtic, Goldson and John Souttar’s incompetence in the box allowed Adam Idah to score what looked like a late winner at Ibrox, but they were saved by Rabbi Matondo’s outstanding effort.
The former Brighton defender will be 32 midway through next season. With two years left on his current contract, if a sizeable fee arrives this summer, Clement would be mad to turn it down.
The players who could replace Connor Goldson at Rangers
At the moment, Souttar is currently playing as the left-sided centre-back in order to accommodate Goldson, but the Scot’s preferred choice is on his stronger side.
If Goldson moves on, Clement could move Souttar to the right, leaving a space to fill in the other slot.
Leon Balogun’s future is still unclear as his contract expires in a few weeks, while it appears Ben Davies has no future at the Light Blues after falling out of favour under the Belgian.
Leon King could be an ideal long-term heir to Goldson. Not only does he have a wonderful future ahead of him, but he already has plenty of first-team experience under his belt.
During the 2022/23 campaign, the 20-year-old made 23 appearances for the Gers – including six in the Champions League – allowing him to develop his skills in Europe’s premier club competition.
It was a baptism of fire as Rangers lost all six games, but this experience will hopefully have stood him in good stead for the future.
If Clement can sell Goldson, he will free up £37k-per-week along with bringing in a decent transfer fee hopefully, giving him the licence to go out and buy another centre-back or two.
The key will be to sign a couple of players who could be sellable assets in a few years, allowing the former Club Brugge manager to establish a player-trading model at the Light Blues.
Goldson has been a fantastic stalwart for the club since arriving in the summer of 2018, but this summer feels like the perfect time for both parties to say their goodbyes, which will allow Rangers to kickstart a new era.
Ally McCoist names "different class" Shankland alternative for Rangers
The former Rangers striker weighed in on their striker issues this season.
ByBen BrowningApr 25, 2024