Oscar Cortes’ move to Rangers has been nothing short of a failure so far.
The Colombian winger has featured just seven times in the Scottish Premiership this season as injuries have wreaked havoc on the loanee.
Rangers are obligated to buy the 21-year-old in the summer transfer window for £3.5million, and that deal has caused much concern amongst fans, given his dismal record regarding his fitness.
Cortes obligation could haunt Rangers
Rangers pulled off another comeback victory against Dundee on Saturday (29 March), but the result highlighted the lack of intensity within the squad.
Michael Stewart believes that several Gers players lack the character that playing for the Govan outfit demands, citing Cortes as one of them.
Speaking on Premier Sports’ Scottish Football Social Club (31 March), he said: “Rangers have got too many players that don’t have that natural level of aggression and intensity in their game.
“You look at Oscar Cortes, for example, in the summer, Rangers are obliged to pay a £3.5m transfer fee for him.
First game of the season at Tynecastle, he came off at half-time and you are looking and going ‘I’m not sure there’s a great deal wrong with him’.
There’s an element of that desire, hunger, and tenacity, and I’m not just picking on him, but he is an example of someone who has been recruited, they have got an obligation to pay £3.5m for him, is he the type of player that you are looking for, he is not.
Rangers need to write their transfer wrongs in the summer
The summer transfer window will likely be very exciting for the Gers fanbase, as the 49ers Enterprises looks to take over at Ibrox.
Their first priority must be to sign Vaclav Cerny on a permanent deal, as the Czech superstar has emerged as one of the Light Blues’ best players on loan from Wolfsburg.
The next issue to solve will be the lack of leadership that Stewart mentioned, and to build a squad that can compete with Celtic.
To do so, the Gers may have to part ways with the likes of Hamza Igamane and Nicolas Raskin, who have both been touted with big-money moves to the Premier League, and would allow the Bears to have a significant transfer budget to rebuild if they were sold.
It will take a lot of money to fix the issues at Auchenhowie, but there may not be a short-term solution; it may take years to rebuild the damage.
The Glasgow giants have to continue their model of finding young gems from underrated leagues and selling them on for major profit until they have a squad that can compete with their city rivals for the title.
However, bringing in a few experienced players to help with leadership and mentality issues could do them the world of good.
