Glasgow Rangers will have to wait at least another year to end their long wait for the Scottish Premiership title after their defeat to the Old Firm on Sunday.
The Light Blues were beaten 3-1 by their rivals, after leading Mikey Moore, and Danny Rohl is the first manager since Dick Advocaat in 2000 to lose three league games in a row.
Talk before the game suggested that Mohamed Diomande could have been played in a deeper position to act as their version of Callum McGregor in the middle of the park.
Instead of doing that, Rohl released the Ivorian as an attacking midfielder and it led to a poor performance of the left-back talent against Celtic.
Diomande finished the game with zero shots, zero dribbles, zero cross keys, and zero ‘big chances’ created, as he failed to contribute in possession as an attacking force.
Rangers join the race to sign the central midfielder for £10m
The Light Blues could enter the transfer market to sign another midfield talent in the summer due to Diomande’s struggles in that role this season.
That’s why the Scottish giants are said to be eyeing the midfielder who will arrive at Ibrox as an upgrade on the 24-year-old Gers ace.
According to Football Insider, Glasgow Rangers have joined the race to sign Schalke midfielder Soufiane El-Faouzi in the summer transfer window.
The report says that Gers and Celtic have both shown interest in signing the 23-year-old star but they face a lot of work to sign him.
It is said that Schalke will want £10m for the midfielder’s services and Premier League side Sunderland are also interested.
This means the Black Cats could blow Celtic and Rangers out of the water if they formalize their interest, even if the Gers could see a £10m bid accepted for El-Faouzi.
How Soufiane El-Faouzi could be an upgrade on Mohamed Diomande
Rohl should push the Gers board to shell out what would be their biggest ever £12m signing for Tore Andre Flo in 2000, as the German maestro would be a great addition to the squad.
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The Rangers have already hit 3. Liga to sign Ryan Naderi from Hansa Rostock in January, and now they need to raid 2. Bundesliga to bring El-Faouzi to Ibrox, despite Schalke’s promotion to the Bundesliga.
His form for Schalke in the 2025/26 campaign suggests he will provide the intelligence and creativity that have been lacking when Diomande has played the number ten role.
|
25/26 season |
El-Faouzi (2. BL) |
Diomande (SPL) |
|---|---|---|
|
Appearance |
33 |
29 |
|
Goals |
2 |
1 |
|
Great opportunities have been created |
11 |
3 |
|
xA |
6.89 |
1.45 |
|
Fighting for each game |
3.0 |
1.4 |
|
Ideas for each game |
1.2 |
0.4 |
The £10m star, who was described as “outstanding” by journalist Florian Plettenberg earlier this season, has created three times more ‘big chances’ than Diomande and almost five times more than xA.
El-Faouzi has shown he can create high chances for his teammates on a regular basis, which is exactly the kind of quality Rangers need when breaking down stubborn defenses in big games and sides sitting back in the low blocks.
It’s not just his creative ability that will see the German star improve Diomande at Rangers, though, as he has also impressed beyond the Ivorian’s off-the-ball talent.
He averaged 4.2 tackles and 2 interceptions per game. Bundesliga, compared to Diomande’s 1.8 per game in the Premiership, suggesting that El-Faouzi is likely to break the opposition’s attacks with important defensive interventions on a regular basis.
Therefore, Rohl could get a huge boost from his midfielder by pushing for the deal to be done because of the creative and defensive qualities the Schalke star will bring to Ibrox.
It is now up to the club to convince the £10m-rated star to give up the chance to play in the Bundesliga to complete a move to Scotland this summer.
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