An update has emerged on Glasgow Rangers and interest in one of their stars ahead of the summer transfer window…
What's the latest on Ridvan Yilmaz's future at Rangers?
According to Fotomac, Turkish giants Galatasaray are eyeing up a swoop to sign Light Blues left-back, Ridvan Yilmaz to bolster their squad for the 2023/24 campaign.
The report claims that the Super Lig side are plotting an official bid to sign the former Besiktas ace, although it does not state how much they are willing to offer.
He joined the Gers for an initial fee of £3.4m in the 2022 summer transfer window and Fatih Terim is aiming to bring the defender straight back to Turkey after one year.
How has Ridvan Yilmaz performed this season?
The 22-year-old enforcer endured a difficult debut campaign with the Light Blues. He missed 29 competitive matches through injury between October and March of 22/23 but did end the season as Michael Beale's first-choice left-back.
Yilmaz only made nine appearances in the Scottish Premiership and registered his first two assists in the competition in the final match of the season against St Mirren on Saturday. The gem provided two excellent assists for Fashion Sakala and that was, hopefully, a sign of things to come next season.
Beale and Rangers must not give up on the defender after one year of struggles as the club made a similar error with centre-forward Cedric Itten.
Former sporting director Ross Wilson decided to cash in on the Switzerland international last summer after he scored two goals in 11 appearances for the Gers in the 2021/22 campaign.
This is currently looking like a disaster of a decision by the club and their former chief as Itten has plundered an eye-catching 23 goals and 12 assists in 39 appearances for BSC Young Boys this term – a goal involvement every 1.1 games on average.
The 26-year-old is thriving in his home country and Rangers may be wondering whether they made an error in allowing him to leave, which is a mistake that they must now avoid with Yilmaz.
Last season, the Gers full-back created five 'big chances' and registered four assists in 27 matches in the Super Lig for Besitkas. He also made 2.8 tackles and interceptions per outing and these statistics show that the gem has the potential to make a big impact at both ends of the pitch.
However, the youngster, who Wilson once dubbed "high-quality", only created one 'big chance' and made 1.6 tackles and interceptions per game in the Premiership, which suggests that Rangers have not seen the best of the Turkish international.
Therefore, Beale must not repeat Wilson's Itten disaster as Yilmaz could go on to be a success next season, and they must not deny themselves the opportunity to watch him do it at Ibrox.