Glasgow Rangers are reportedly closing in on a deal to appoint Scottish head coach Russell Martin as their permanent successor to Philippe Clement.
Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano has claimed that the former Southampton manager has ‘accepted the project’ at Ibrox, and he is now on course to take the reins heading into next season.
Once Martin is in the building, there is plenty for the ex-Premier League boss to deal with during the summer transfer window, in order to create a squad that can compete for the Scottish Premiership title.
The English-born tactician is set to walk into a club that has not won the league title for four years, and he must be ruthless with decisions on players whilst working alongside sporting director Kevin Thelwell.
One Rangers player who wants to leave
Part of building a squad that can be successful and dominant under Martin’s management next season will be ensuring that the players want to be there and want to play for Rangers.
The Light Blues should not want anyone in the group who either sees their future elsewhere or is not happy with playing in Scotland, which is why news that one flop wants to leave the club should give Martin an easy decision to make.
IbroxNews recently reported that central defender Robin Propper wants to leave Rangers to return to his home country in the Netherlands, a year on from leaving FC Twente to join the Gers.
The outlet added that FC Twente are keen to bring him back to the Eredivisie this summer, but only for half of the £2.5m that the Scottish giants paid for him.
Why Rangers should sell Robin Propper
Martin should instantly axe Propper from the squad as one of his first decisions as the club’s new manager, should the deal go through as expected, for several reasons.
As aforementioned, the ex-Southampton boss should not want a player who does not want to be at Rangers, as he will need all the players pulling in the same direction to be successful.
Crucially, though, Martin should ditch Propper because he has not offered enough quality on the pitch. The Dutch centre-back earns more (£9k-per-week) than star attacker Hamza Igamane (£7.2k-per-week), who delivered 16 goals in all competitions this season, and has not done enough to justify that.
Back in December, Derek Ferguson voiced concerns over how the centre-back was adapting to life in Scotland. He said:
“Propper is struggling. He’s been pretty vocal over the last couple of weeks that he’s finding it tough in our league. He’s been asked the question early on. It’s quite worrying when you see him struggling as bad as that. Look at the body language – he’s looking for a way out already.”
It simply has not worked out for the 31-year-old defender at Ibrox, as shown by his statistics domestically and in Europe, and that may be why he is now keen to move back to the Netherlands.
With all of this in mind, it should be a fairly simple decision for Martin to make on his future, as he must instantly axe the Dutch flop from the squad amid interest from FC Twente.
