SIX RANGERS 'SURPRISES' VYING FOR RUSSELL MARTIN'S ATTENTION AS MISFIT STARS MUST MAKE PRE SEASON FIRST IMPRESSIONS COUNT

Another Rangers pre-season gets underway and there's another clean slate for everyone on the back of a disappointing season.

Russell Martin is the latest man tasked with at least giving Celtic a proper title challenge and upping the Ibrox trophy count now that Celtic have pulled ahead on that front.

The new signings have started to arrive with Joe Rothwell and Emmanuel Fernandez through the door. Norwegian international midfielder Thelo Aasgaard and Leicester City defender Conor Coady are expected to join them.

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But what about those who are still with the club but have become somewhat forgotten amidst the sea of change taking place at Ibrox this summer?

Jose Cifuentes is back after a year-long loan in Greece determined to show his worth and her won't be the only one.

Martin insists he has no pre-conceived ideas about the members of his Rangers squad and said when he was appointed that he's willing to have his mind changed based on what he sees at Auchenhowie.

"I'm always open and willing to be surprised so I'm looking forward to that, to really see what the players can do," he said. "I know they haven't had a long time off so hopefully they can be in a good place physically and we can really crack on pretty quickly. But yeah, the hard work really begins now."

That leaves the door open for former fringe men to stake a claim and turns their Rangers fortunes around.

Record Sport looks at who could really do with a strong start to the summer after indifferent Gers careers so far.

Jose Cifuentes

May as well start with the Ecuadorian. Was held up as a signing that could help take Rangers to the "next level" by Michael Beale, which arguably set him up to fail.

Being closely associated with the Londoner's doomed Ibrox reign has done him no favours since either and it's very much been a case of out of sight, out of mind for Cifuentes. who it was just accepted would not be coming back to Ibrox. But now he is and Record Sport understands he's none too keen to just accepting his fate.

Regular football in Greece will have helped, although with Martin having signed one midfielder and another set to arrive, he has a job on his hands convincing he's the man to hold down an engine room spot under the new gaffer.

Danilo

Another Beale buy, the Brazilian arrived with an impressive pedigree for a chunky transfer fee. In fairness, Danilo has produced some big moments in Light Blue, including two goals in Old Firm clashes.

The problem has been injuries. Getting him on the pitch often enough to justify that big outlay from Beale has been the issue rather than the player's form failing to live up to expectations. With Cyriel Dessers strongly linked with AEK and Lille keen on Hamza Igamane, Martin needs a frontman he can rely on.

Dessers has shown he can be that guy but if he moves on, hanging your hat on Danilo is a risk based on recent evidence,

Oscar Cortes

Rangers making the decision to extend the Colombian's loan for a further year last summer rather than stump up £4million to sign him based on very little playing time was sensible. That couldn't be avoided this year though so now it's in their interest to get him on the pitch regularly.

Like Danilo, injury has robbed Cortes of valuable playing time, although his fellow South American has done more in his limited playing time.

He returned to training towards the end of last season so should be able to hit the ground running at the start of Martin's reign. At 21, time is on his side but patience is in short supply at a club like Rangers so needs to start showing something, even if he's not seen as one of the main men.

Kieran Dowell

The common denominator amongst those on the edge of things at Rangers is Beale, which doesn't say much for his transfer acumen. Dowell is another who has done his best work on temporary secondment from Ibrox.

A loan spell with League One champions Birmingham City was an unqualified success, with Blues fans keen for Chris Davies to bring Dowell back to St Andrew's on a permanent basis.

That may still happen, but Martin will at least get a loo at the midfielder over the next few weeks.. Again though, he operates in an area where the new boss is strengthening already so the writing could already be on the wall and a return to Blues would seem to suit all parties.

Ben Davies

Another Birmingham loan star who faces even more competition for game time under Martin. Centre back is a priority position. Robin Propper will likely head back to FC Twente eventually, although feature din a closed doors game earlier this week.

But with John Souttar ahead of him, Emmanuel Fernandez signed, Conor Coady expected to sign and Wolves centre back Nasser Djigga in talks over a loan move, it's starting to look a bit crowded in the heart of the Gers defence.

Rabbi Matondo

The Welsh winger is in the last chance saloon when it comes to his Rangers career. This is the last year of his contract and a seriously underwhelming loan stint with Hanover 96 last season has done little to convince there's more to come.

Matondo has shown what he can do in glimpses. Electric pace is a weapon any club wants in their arsenal, but affecting games is where Matondo falls down, a late Old Firm leveller against Celtic and the odd Euro moment not withstanding.

He's shown precious little against the lesser lights of the Scottish Premiership and that's where he needs to be consistent to persuade Martin he can offer something going forward. If not, another loan before release next summer seems the obvious outcome this season.

2025-07-04T09:38:50Z