Rangers Star Desperate for Exit Before Deadline, Stuns Fans by Rejecting Sale
- Ridvan Yilma wants to spend the next four months playing in Turkey and cannot be persuaded to leave Rangers on a permanent basis, according to Ertan Süzgün.
The Sports Digitale journalist was quoted by the outlet on 29 January that the 22-year-old’s choice is to play the rest of the season in his home country to secure a place as the European Championships in the summer, with Galatasaray after him.
Both the Turkish Super Lig side and the Light Blues want to include a clause for the move to be made permanent but the defender himself is apparently unmoved on the possibility.
Yilmaz has been linked to a move away throughout the January transfer window but has hit a run of strong form amid regular starts under Philippe Clement.
It wouldn’t make a great deal of sense for the full-back not to want a permanent move if he is prepared to leave Ibrox this month.
Since he seems to have finally made the breakthrough that Rangers have been waiting a year and a half for since his arrival from Besiktas he would likely be back to square one again if he returned after just a few months.
The attraction of a move to one of the big clubs in his home country to put himself in clear view to get into the Turkey squad is logical in itself, even if he surely stands a decent chance of making it anyway if he keeps up his current form at Ibrox.
But if both clubs want one thing then it seems equally unlikely that they would agree to something else that doesn’t really seem to suit either.
Clement has suggested that he would be happy to keep the defender past the close of the window if a suitable offer doesn’t arrive [Sky Sports, 17 January], and despite Galatasaray coming into a major transfer windfall there are suggestions that they aren’t going to meet the asking price.
So while nothing can truly be ruled out in the final days of a January window it is seeming increasingly unlikely that the Turk is set to leave Ibrox this month.