The Glasgow Rangers entered the next round of qualifying in the Champions League League stage that beat Panathinaikos in total earlier this week.
The Blues won 2-0 in the first leg of Ibrox last week before they headed to Greece to get a 1-1 draw and booked a game with Viktoria PLZen later this month.
Djeidi Gassama scored on both legs, shot in the equalizer on Wednesday night and made an impressive life with the Scottish Premier League Giants.
Not all club new signings, though, run under Russell Martin as Thelo Aasgaard disappeared due to injury and Emmanuel Fernandez has not yet appeared.
Joe Rothwell provided the Gers with a calm and guaranteed presence at the base in the midfield and signed from Bournemouth in a permanent trade, but the club’s other signings from Cherries didn’t have that much luck.
Martin brought Aarons, who borrowed from the Premier League as a player in Norwich City and has played at left back in the last two games.
How the Max Aarons experiment disappears
It is fair to say that the British defender looked uncomfortable during his first two competitive outings, playing on the Rangers shirt, on the other side of the game he once played.
Aaron started only nine left-backs in his club career (including the youth level) before two games against Panathinaikos, and his lack of experience in the role in the performance is obvious.
The former Norwich defender often targets his position or how to shape his body at the top or defend the ball through the ball to stop the winger from entering the back or to prevent the player from taking the ball away from behind him.
The second leg was almost very expensive, when he failed to deal with the ball and fell down to try to protect himself from the attacker, but he was bailed by Jack Butland’s excellent single save.
|
vs panathinaikos |
Max Aaron |
Jeff |
|---|---|---|
|
Have fun in a few minutes |
90 |
17 |
|
Tackle + Intercept |
1 |
2 |
|
Duel success rate |
83% |
100% |
|
By accuracy |
89% |
100% |
|
Dribble past |
0x |
0x |
|
Error causing shooting |
1 |
0 |
|
Cross attempt |
0 |
2 |
|
Statistics via Sofascore |
||
As you can see in the table above, as a natural left footer player, Jefte offered more left footers in 90 minutes in Greece on Wednesday night as he tried more crosses and made more tackles and interceptions combined together.
The Brazilian cameo highlighted the benefits of having a left-footed left-back, who is comfortable with the role, which is why the Aarons experiment could end with the club’s interest in another left-back.
Rangers in the competition sign new left back
According to Footstep Mercato, the Rangers are one side of many aspects, and they signed a potential deal with Monaco defender Kassoum Ouattara this summer.
The report claims that Light Blue has contacted players’ representatives to discuss potential transfers to Ibrox, but they are not the only team to do so.
The Celtics, Augsburg, Toulouse, PSV and Metz all have a touch point with his agents as they all compete to sign his signature for the 2025/26 campaign and have the potential to surpass.
Foot Mercato added that Monaco does not want to lend the defense attorney to the defense attorney because they want to cash out the player to sell his currency permanently.
However, the report does not state how much return they want, or whether the vagabond is willing to make a permanent deal for him.
Why should the ranger sign Kassoum Ouattara
The Scottish Giants should win the 20-year-old left-back in the next few days and weeks as he will end the Max Aarons experiment.
Ouattara is a natural left-back who can compete with Jefte on the side of the left to compete for the starting point, thus allowing the British defender to compete with James Tavernier, right-back.
This means Martin will not have to play Alexon on weak feet, which hurts the team as he will have another potentially quality option to appeal on the left.
Ouattara, who scored against Turin in the preseason earlier this week, still found his first-tier football at the age of 20, but he showed a lot of hope in his short career so far.
The French U20 International team played five games for Monaco’s Ligue 1 in the 2024/25 campaign and attracted attention with his offensive contributions as he is a left-footed player who can bomb the left player to the left to create opportunities for his team.
|
24/25 Ligue 1 |
kassoum ouattara every 90 |
Percentile ranking and defender |
|---|---|---|
|
xa |
0.29 |
Top 5% |
|
Created opportunities |
1.38 |
Top 17% |
|
The cross of success |
1.62 |
Top 7% |
|
Cross Accuracy |
41.2% |
Top 9% |
|
Successful dribbling |
1.15 |
Top 12% |
|
Assist |
0.23 |
Top 9% |
|
Statistics through fotmob |
||
As you can see in the table above, Ouatarra’s attacking force along the left side of the left wing in France’s top flight, and his position peer ranks high in many creative statistics.
This shows that if he has the chance to play out regular first-tier football games, he has the potential to be Martin’s huge offensive weapon, starting in the Premier League one week.
Author Kai Watson, who has been described as a “very offensive” defender, also showed off his defensive aspect of Ligue 2 in Ligue 2 with Amiens on the 2023/24 campaign.
The 20-year-old averaged 3.3 tackles and interceptions per game, while Aarons played just one game Wednesday night and helped his team keep four clean sheets in ten games in the department.
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These statistics suggest that he has the potential to be a full-scale left-back who can provide quality offense and defense, which is why Ouattara can end the Aarons experiment with the starter, natural, natural left-back option as a manager.
