Rangers Set for Transfer Overhaul as McInnes Eyes Four Signings
Rangers are braced for a hectic final month of the transfer window, with Derek McInnes ready to drive through as many as four new signings – but only once a wave of departures has cleared space in his squad.
Olwethu Makhanya has already arrived from Philadelphia Union to bolster the back line, a first step in a wider rebuild. The door has swung the other way too. Oliver Antman has completed his move to Anderlecht, and Nedim Bajrami is closing in on a switch to the Saudi Pro League, stripping options from the attacking and midfield lines just as the season begins.
McInnes knows exactly where he wants the next blows to land.
Wingers top of the wishlist
The manager has made no secret internally: width is the obsession. Rangers want more speed, more threat, more goals from the flanks. The plan is clear – two new wingers before the window shuts.
The current wide options have left the squad short of the variety and punch required for a campaign that will stretch across domestic and European fronts. McInnes wants players who can hurt full-backs, drag defences out of shape and change the tempo of tight games. That is where the bulk of the remaining energy – and, if it arrives, the bulk of the money – will go.
Defensive reshuffle looming
At the other end of the pitch, the rebuild is only half-done. Makhanya is in, but Rangers still want two more defenders, with cover and competition a priority.
John Souttar is widely expected to leave, and that likely exit has sharpened the need for reinforcements. McInnes wants a defensive unit that can absorb injuries and suspensions without a drop-off, not one that creaks when a first-choice name is missing.
The club’s recruitment drive at the back is not about numbers alone. It is about reliability. Rangers were burned too often last season when the defensive options ran thin. McInnes does not intend to relive that.
Midfield business on hold – unless a big sale lands
Central midfield, by contrast, is parked in neutral. Another midfielder is not at the top of McInnes’ list unless Rangers can move players out.
Connor Barron and Mo Diomande are among those who could be offloaded to create room and wages. More significantly, any shift involving Nico Raskin would rip the transfer window wide open.
Raskin is the crown jewel. Valued at more than £20 million, the Belgian continues to attract strong interest from Villarreal and other European clubs. A sale at that level would transform what Rangers can do in the final weeks of the window and hand McInnes the kind of budget that reshapes a squad in one summer rather than two.
For now, that possibility also applies the brakes to a move for Jens Herto Dahl from Tromso. Without a major exit in midfield, that deal sits in the waiting room.
If Raskin goes, it would be a painful loss on the pitch but the biggest financial boost of the summer off it – the sort of decision that defines an era.
Clock ticking before Dundee United opener
All of this plays out against an unforgiving calendar. Rangers open their Premiership campaign on Friday night away to Dundee United at Tannadice, and McInnes wants fresh faces in the building as soon as possible.
He is acutely aware that new signings dropped in after the season has started often take weeks to settle. With a demanding domestic and European schedule ahead, he cannot afford passengers. The aim is to have the bulk of the business done in time for those recruits to integrate quickly and contribute immediately.
The summer has already brought change, but around Ibrox there is a clear sense that the job is only half-finished. The focus is locked on two areas: greater quality and depth out wide, and a sturdier, deeper defensive core.
McInnes has inherited a squad in transition. He is not treating it gently. Decisions on fan favourites have already been sanctioned to fuel this rebuild, and more hard calls lie ahead.
The 49ers’ backing ensures Rangers are not short on ambition. The question now is whether the exits fall into place, the big bids land, and the right targets can be delivered before the window slams shut – because the next few weeks will not just shape this season.
They will reveal how quickly McInnes can turn a team in flux into one that can compete on every front.
