Glasgow Rangers sporting director Ross Wilson was a busy man in the transfer market last summer as he made a host of signings to bolster Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side.
The Light Blues chief brought in the likes of Tom Lawrence, Antonio Colak, Malik Tillman, Ridvan Yilmaz, and John Souttar but current head coach Michael Beale – who arrived during the World Cup break – has not had the pleasure of working with all of them.
Yilmaz suffered a hamstring injury in October and it remains to be seen when the Turkey international will be available for the English boss to select – missing 19 competitive matches to date.
The left-back was brought in from Besiktas last summer and Wilson was effusive in his praise of the dynamo at the time, saying:
“Gio and I were clear in our desire to invest in a high-potential and high-quality left back. This is another exciting young player to join our squad, and we are delighted to bring Ridvan to Rangers.”
Will Yilmaz be a success at Rangers?
Yes
No
How much is Rangers’ Ridvan Yilmaz worth?
Football Transfers expected the transfer value of the full-back to be €1.8m (£1.6m) in July of last year, when the Gers snapped him up, but the 21-year-old’s xTV has now soared to €7.3m (£6.4m) at the time of writing.
This is an increase of a whopping 300% from £1.6m to £6.4m and his rising value shows that the gem has benefitted from making the switch to Ibrox, in spite of his injury issues in recent months.
Yilmaz has only made seven senior appearances for the Gers but has already registered one assist from full-back and played in the Champions League for the club.
There is a talented young player there for Beale to unearth, as shown by his soaring market value, and the head coach could strike gold for the Light Blues by working with him closely after his return from injury.
The English boss could help the Turkish dynamo to continue his development, which would – in turn – boost his xTV (expected transfer value) further and leave the club with an extremely valuable asset.
His form for Besiktas last season proves that the youngster is capable of delivering excellent performances on a consistent basis. Yilmaz scored three goals and provided four assists in 23 Super Lig starts, whilst making 2.8 tackles and interceptions per game for his side.
The 21-year-old, who has plenty of time left on his hands to grow and improve, has the potential to make a big impact at both ends of the pitch for Rangers – affecting games by winning possession back for his team and chipping in with goals and assists in the final third.
It is now down to the full-back to get himself fit and then Beale will be able to work with him to make sure that his performances in Turkey can be replicated, and improved upon, for the Gers.
