Glasgow Rangers are looking highly unlikely to bring another centre-forward to the club on deadline day with Philippe Clement and his transfer team deciding to sit quietly rather than liven the place up at Ibrox.
A move for Oscar Cortes is reportedly done, and the winger may be the only addition through the door for Rangers on the final day of the winter window.
Rangers deadline day activity
The key talking point throughout the previous month was the need for another striker, with Lawrence Shankland the name on everyone’s lips.
A fresh update from the Daily Record suggests that any chance of the Hearts forward making a move away from Tynecastle before the deadline this evening are 'minuscule' at best.
With just 18 months left on his current deal, now was the perfect chance for the Light Blues to strike, yet it appeared as though Philippe Clement seemingly was not even interested in bringing him to Glasgow.
Regardless of interest or not, this was a move which the club should have persisted on, especially with his record in front of goal since arriving back in Scotland during the summer of 2022.
It may well turn into a deadline day blunder in the coming months.
Lawrence Shankland would have been an upgrade on Cyriel Dessers
Since returning from the winter break, Dessers has shown an improvement in his performances compared to the start of the season.
The Nigerian has scored in all three competitive matches Rangers have played as they have earned three victories, yet Clement surely cannot rely on the 29-year-old if they are to challenge Celtic for the Premiership title.
The matter of fact is, Dessers is not clinical enough in front of goal. In the top flight this season, he has missed 12 big chances, the highest number among the whole squad, and he often requires a couple of chances before finding the back of the net.
Shankland, on the other hand, has been in sublime form since the start of the 2022/23 season. Not only has he scored more goals during that period than Dessers (47 vs 22), but he has also registered more shots per game (3.5 vs 2.8) this season, along with completing more successful dribbles per game (0.8 vs 0.4) and it proves that he could have been a solid upgrade on the former Feyenoord frontman.
Shankland could have given the Ibrox side that added firepower which may have given them a slightly better chance of winning the top flight for the first time since the 2020/21 season.
It looks as though the club may have to go through the final few months of 2023/24 with just Dessers and Fabio Silva as their two main centre-forward options.
Silva has plenty of talent but has yet to truly prove it during the embryonic stages of his career thus far.
Shankland is already on 19 goals for the current campaign and could easily smash through the 28-goal barrier that he achieved during his first term at the Gorgie outfit.
Could this be a potential move the Gers live to regret not making in the coming months? Only time will tell for Clement and his staff.
