The Daily Record recently reported that five Glasgow Rangers players will be allowed to move on from Ibrox before the end of the January transfer window.

Kieran Dowell, Clinton Nsiala, Nedim Bajrami, Danilo, and Rabbi Matondo are all free to leave in the coming weeks on permanent deals, whilst Lyall Cameron could be sent out on loan for the rest of the season.

It is not a surprise to learn that Danny Rohl wants to move on from Dowell, for example, because he has not played a single minute of competitive football since August, having been given a chance by Russell Martin at the start of the campaign.

Rangers in talks to sell flop

On top of Dowell and the other four players mentioned in that Daily Record article earlier this month, another Light Blues flop is on his way out of the club.

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According to Joshua Barrie, Glasgow Rangers are “in talks” with Argentinian outfit Huracan over a deal that would see Oscar Cortes make the move to South America.

The winger, signed by Philippe Clement and Nils Koppen, is currently on loan with Sporting Gijon in Spain, but this move would see that loan cut short so that he can move to Argentina.

Barrie claims that the two clubs are currently in talks over a deal that would be a loan with an option or obligation to buy, which means that they are looking to sell the Colombian forward.

However, it remains to be seen how much money Hurucan are willing to pay at the end of the loan to make the deal permanent in the summer transfer window.

Why Cortes has been a bigger flop than Dowell

With Cortes seemingly now on his way to leaving the club on a permanent basis, it is hard to say anything other than that he has been an even bigger flop than Dowell.

The English midfielder has not been a success at Ibrox. Since signing on a free transfer from Norwich in 2023, he has contributed with two goals and three assists in 38 appearances, per Transfermarkt.

He has not offered anywhere near enough quality in the final third, hence why he has found himself on the fringes ahead of a January exit, but it must also be recognised that the ex-Canaries star joined on a free.

Cortes, however, was signed for a whopping fee of £4.5m from Lens in the summer of 2025, after an obligation to buy was put in his loan deal in 2024.

The obligation to buy meant that the Gers had to pay £4.5m for a player who had only scored one goal and provided one assist in 16 Scottish Premiership games in 18 months for the club, per Sofascore.

Rangers defender Richard Foster said that Cortes “looked miles off it” when given an opportunity shortly before the loan deal had to be made permanent, and interim boss Barry Ferguson suggested that he needed to up his levels in training to get more game time.

After signing permanently, despite his struggles across his 18-month loan stint, the winger was sent out on loan to Sporting Gijon for the 2025/26 campaign, but he has failed to deliver a goal or an assist in eight appearances in all competitions, per Sofascore.

Rangers career

Dowell

Cortes

Fee

£0

£4.5m

Appearances

38

19

Goals

2

1

Big chances created

4

1

Assists

3

1

Game stats via Sofascore

As you can see in the table above, Cortes and Dowell both look set to permanently end their Rangers careers with fairly dismal statistics, given that they are both attacking players.

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It is the Colombian, however, who looks like the bigger flop and worst signing out of the pair, because he has not offered as much on the pitch, whilst costing a significant fee, rather than joining on a free transfer.

Rangers have only signed eight players for more than £4.5m in their history, including the likes of Ryan Kent, Youssef Chermiti, and Tore Andre Flo, which illustrates how costly the Cortes deal was.

With that in mind, albeit without knowing how much money they could recoup for his services as part of the option to make this potential loan permanent, the 22-year-old dud may have to go down as one of their biggest ever flops.

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The money they paid to sign him, the lack of output on the pitch, and the failed loan before a permanent exit from Ibrox all point to him going down as a huge flop.

Tottenham’s Europa League clash with Lazio was marred with racial abuse from home fans towards the travelling Spurs supporters and violence away from the stadium. Lazio’s violent following known as The Eagles – one of Italy’s hooligan organisations commonly referred to as ‘Ultras’ – have been held responsible by the media for an attack on a small group of Spurs fans in a pub in the Rome, leaving one man in a critical condition and ten more wounded, however the club’s president Claudio Lotito has refused to point the finger at the Lazio hooligans.

“It is too easy to speak about attacks by people with their faces covered and say that they were Lazio fans. I maintain Lazio fans had nothing to do with it,” 55-year-old Lotito told reporters following the attacks. Meanwhile, UEFA still maintain that hooliganism is not a footballing issue.

At the match itself, Lazio fans chanted racial slurs towards the Tottenham support throughout the 0-0 draw. Most notably, the chant of “Tottenham Juden” was heard ringing out across the Stadio Olimpico. During the alternate fixture at White Hart Lane, Biancocelesti fans made monkey noises at White Hart Lane, directed towards Jermain Defoe.

UEFA fined the Italian club £35,000 for the away fans’ obscenities, which will add to the long list of small monetary penalties handed out to national football associations and clubs by the European organisation as they continue to take a lenient stance on racism.

But should UEFA be expected to do anything? How can they realistically change the attitudes and culture of a club’s supporters, or for that matter a nation’s supporters?

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It is true that the fines are minimal – Nicklas Bendtner’s Paddy Power underwear fiasco earned him a larger penalty fine for undeclared sponsorship than any club or country has for failing to control their fans. Similarly, the case set up by UEFA examining the England Under 21s match in Serbia in which Danny Rose and other black players were subjected to racial abuse has been delayed until next month because it requires “further investigation”.

The Serbian FA have denied allegations of racism, claiming Rose behaved in a provocative and vulgar manner throughout the match and have released the bizarre and ridiculously titled video “Danny Rose is lying to whom?” – a small collection of segments from the match where the Sunderland left-back is not subject to intense monkey chanting from home fans. Clarke Carlisle has called for Serbia to be banned from competing until their fans can be controlled, but UEFA continue to distance themselves from the issues of racism and hooliganism.

It would certainly not be overreacting to see UEFA’s policy as somewhat hypocritical. Following the Heysel Stadium disaster, English clubs were banned from competing in European competitions for five years until a solution could be found for the “English disease” of hooliganism. But, would banning clubs or countries actually achieve anything? Could it even make the problem worse?

The political, social and psychological implications of football are often overlooked. Newspapers are often filled with headlines such as “ban the thugs”, simplifying the issue and working towards it’s further detriment – a particular example that comes to mind is Manchester United’s Red Army being labelled as “barbarians” by newspapers in the 1980s, to which the United faithful at Old Trafford replied by singing “WE EAT HUMANS”. Clubs have an identity, and for good or worse that identity cannot be ignored or simply transformed overnight and branding that identity with negative connotations only escalates the problem.

Paolo Di Canio, on his return to Lazio, the club he personally affiliates to, often celebrated goals with the Fascist salute, which was warmly embraced by the Italian fans. The Serie A club has historic links to fascism dating back to the days of Mussolini – the deceased dictator even built Stadio Olimpico as part of his planned Mussolini Forum. Di Canio told reporters after his first instance of raising the salute that he is “a fascist, not a racist” and although it is true that the two are not mutually exclusive, both racism and fascism appears to be a heavy influence on Lazio fans and their identity. At the time, Silvio Berlusconi defended the current Swindon Town manager, stating: “He just does it for the fans, not out of malice. He’s a good boy, just a bit of a show-off.”

UEFA’s fines are a rather toothless punishment in response to the appalling actions of fans, and the organisation could certainly do more to push the issues of racism and hooliganism on to national football organisations as well as clubs, but as it stands, what difference can they truly achieve? Even banning clubs from European or international football would simply make martyrs of their fans and no doubt heighten their hostilities towards opponents.

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Change takes years. It was widely believed that racism had been eradicated from English football, but over the past few years, and especially the past few months the issue has dominated the sport. It Is clear to see there is a glass ceiling, especially in management and coaching positions, and there are still groups of fans who find hissing at White Hart Lane acceptable behaviour. It would be premature to suggest England has gotten over its problems of the 1970s and 1980s. West Ham fans during the weekend’s London derby with Spurs sung “Viva Lazio” and “Can we stab you every week” just days after the attack in Rome.

Change must come from within; it cannot be thrust upon a subject from a higher power. And with the Serbian FA and Lazio football club wiping their hands clean of the allegations held against them, even denying and defending the actions of their fans, cultural improvement does not seem to be on the horizon.

English hooliganism was not successfully tackled until the early 1990s, where clubs worked in tandem with the police to effectively stamp out violence between rival fans. With the case of Italy, the Ultras have made football stadiums fortresses to ambush Italian police, and there are constant skirmishes between violent groups of fans and Italian officers away from the grounds and throughout the towns and cities.

If the Italian authorities cannot contain the Ultras, what chance do UEFA really have?

A Newcastle United journalist has claimed that Ivan Toney will be a bigger concern for Eddie Howe than Christian Eriksen when they play Brentford.

The Lowdown: Eriksen debut?

Eriksen could reportedly make his debut for the Bees at home to the Magpies on Saturday afternoon, having not featured in a competitive game on a football pitch since suffering a cardiac arrest for Denmark at Euro 2020.

He recently featured in a bounce match against Glasgow Rangers, when he provided two assists in a 2-2 draw, and all eyes will now be on whether he makes a competitive return against the northeast club this weekend.

The Latest: Toney back for Brentford v Newcastle

As pointed out by Newcastle reporter Miles Starforth of The Shields Gazette, Toney will also be returning for Brentford, and he argued that the former Magpies striker will be a bigger concern for Howe than Eriksen, writing:

“The focus is likely to be on Christian Eriksen on Saturday, but the return of Ivan Toney, quietly sold by Newcastle in 2018, is arguably more of a concern for Eddie Howe.”

The Verdict: Point to prove

Toney will no doubt have a point to prove against his former club, for whom he only made sold to Peterborough United in 2018 after a few loan spells away from Newcastle.

He has not done too badly since, notching up 77 league goals combined for the Posh and Brentford over the last four seasons (not been kind to the Bees, he will want to get Thomas Frank’s side back on track.

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This is a big match in terms of the relegation picture, and the Magpies will no doubt have to keep Toney quiet if they are to claim another three points.

In other news, find out which £40.5m-rated star has ‘bewitched’ NUFC ahead of a potential summer move

Gio van Bronckhorst’s Rangers return to action in the Premiership away from Ibrox tonight as they look to end a frustrating run of results.

The Gers have been held to a draw in each of their last three competitive outings – including their last two in the league as they dropped points after having a two-goal lead at the weekend.

Van Bronckhorst’s men now come up against St. Johnstone in the Premiership this evening with the chance to draw level with Celtic in the table, if they arch-rivals lose to St. Mirren.

Out of steam

One player the Dutch head coach must brutally axe for this game is central midfielder and wide man Joe Aribo to hand the Nigeria international a much-needed rest.

He has one goal in his last 11 matches for the Gers in all competitions and his display against Motherwell suggested that he is in desperate need of a break.

The attacking gem does not look as sharp and dynamic on the ball as he did a few weeks ago, as he failed to create a single chance or manage an effort on target in 90 minutes – as per SofaScore.

This is not to say that he has been dreadful and is not putting in solid performances, but it feels like he is not playing to the best of his abilities and fatigue could be playing a role in that. His display against Motherwell was a cause for concern and his performance levels could get worse if he continues to be overplayed in the coming weeks.

Therefore, van Bronckhorst could benefit from axing him for this match as he appears to have run out of steam and he must avoid burning Aribo out heading into the clutch time of the campaign.

A game or two on the sidelines could do him the world of good after a busy period of football, with the midfielder playing week-in-week-out for the Gers after also heading out to play for his country in the African Cup of Nations back in January.

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The midfielder was dubbed as having “unbelievable strength” by Cammy Bell earlier this year, but fatigue can affect anyone and Aribo is no exception.

He must now be dropped to the bench so that he can have a rest and make sure that he is able to return to the starting XI against Aberdeen at Ibrox at the weekend and get back to his very best form.

AND in other news, GvB must unleash “outstanding” £14k-p/w Rangers gem who plays with “smile on his face”…

Southampton are through to the quarter-final of the FA Cup after a superb 3-1 victory at home to high-flying West Ham, who could not find an answer up against a team who had made nine changes to their starting XI.

With just Kyle Walker-Peters and James Ward-Prowse retaining their places in the team, opportunities were given to the likes of Romain Perraud – who has had to drop out of the team due to the former’s incredible recent form, as well as Tino Livramento’s return from injury.

Despite having not played since the Saints’ draw away against Manchester United on the 12th February, the Frenchman, who arrived for £10.8m in the summer from French Ligue 1 side Stade Brestois 29, looked extremely sharp.

He opened the scoring in the 31st minute of the game with an absolute thunderbolt from almost 30-yards out, an effort which The Times described as a “wonder strike”, before a James Ward-Prowse penalty and Armando Broja strike wrapped the game up, with Michail Antonio scoring the Hammers’ only goal.

The 24-year-old left-back also completed 87% of his passes as well as making three clearances, one block, one interception and two tackles in another defensively solid performance.

The Saints star also hinted that he believes the team could go on to win the trophy in his post-match interview, with an answer that will surely be music to the ears of fans.

“We are ninth in the Premier League and in the last eight of the FA Cup. We can dream,” said Perraud.

His encouraging performance and excellent goal will give boss Ralph Hasenhuttl something to think about going into the final few months of the season, as Livramento and Walker-Peters at the moment seem to be the first-choice pairing.

However, after losing possession 16 times in the game, there are still clear areas in his game that need improvement, providing the manager with a headache over whether to use him on a more regular basis.

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And while the former Spurs wing-back has been playing in place of Perraud in recent weeks despite being a natural right-footer, and the former being described by teammate Stuart Armstrong as a “top quality player”, it’s hard to see a way-in for the French defender.

However, with Livramento being linked with a move away from St Mary’s Stadium, the Saints won’t be weakened too much should his potential sale go through, with Walker-Peters also impressing on the right-side of defence when called upon and Perraud proving that he is a reliable option more often than not this season.

In other news: Hasenhuttl howler: “Dynamic” Saints dud with 0.1 goals per game has been a huge flop

West Ham United manager David Moyes has been dealt a blow ahead of tonight’s crunch clash with Sevilla in the first leg of their Europa League last 16 tie.

The Lowdown: West Ham without key men…

The Hammers have had to cope without some influential figures in recent weeks/months as Moyes seeks to maintain his side’s push for Champions League qualification.

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West Ham are still in contention for a top-four place in the Premier League and take on La Liga giants Sevilla tonight as they also eye a run in Europe.

As the Irons fight on two major fronts, players who have proven integral over this last year have been absent recently, including defenders Angelo Ogbonna and Vladimir Coufal.

Both men are sidelined and unavailable tonight with there being plenty of fears in this last week surrounding another star player in Jarrod Bowen.

The Englishman was forced off in West Ham’s 1-0 defeat to Liverpool on Saturday, and despite the club confirming his knock isn’t a serious one, it appears Moyes will also be without his star player for Sevilla alongside the likes Coufal and Ogbonna.

The Latest: Bowen blow…

Speaking to the press, via football.london, West Ham’s manager confirmed Bowen won’t be playing at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium this evening.

“It [missing Bowen] will limit us as Jarrod has an X factor,” he said when asked about the winger.

“He has been in good form the last two to three months, it will not change us a great deal but we are missing an important player.

“We hope Jarrod can make it for the second leg. He has had three or four scans and there is noting severe but we are hoping to find the cause and to get him back as he is important.”

The Verdict: Huge miss…

Bowen is undoubtedly a contender for West Ham’s player of the season so missing him for tonight is a major blow.

As consistently reiterated by Moyes, Bowen has been ‘really important’ for the club this season, as evident by his WhoScored statistics in the Premier League.

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Not only is the 25-year-old West Ham’s top provider of goals and assists combined (8G, 8A), he’s also averaged the highest overall match rating out of their entire squad (7.23) and an even better number than big name star Declan Rice (7.17).

Completing more dribbles per 90 (1.6) than any man in Moyes’ squad, Bowen is consistently the Hammers’ most potent threat and his absence could well be detrimental.

Labelled ‘incredible player’ by Noel Whelan, West Ham will sorely miss him tonight.

In other news: Chief sports writer says West Ham have opened talks to sign ‘out of the ordinary’ £22.5m-rated star, find out more here.

Ange Postecoglou has dropped an update on the future of Celtic winger Karamoko Dembele.

What’s the latest?

In recent comments cited by Football Scotland, the 56-year-old Bhoys boss revealed that, despite the 19-year-old’s current deal at Celtic being set to expire this summer, he is yet to have a discussion with the England U18 international regarding the extension of his contract at the club.

Speaking about the situation of the forward, Postecoglou said: “With the contract side of things, it’s kind of a two-way thing. That’ll depend on Karamoko himself and where he sees his future.

“We’ll sit down at the appropriate time with him and try to map out what’s best for him and what he thinks is best for him, then we’ll come to a decision.”

However, in a recent report for The Athletic, Kieran Devlin suggested that, at present, it looks unlikely that Dembele will put pen to paper on a new deal in Glasgow, something that would see the teenager depart at the end of the season.

In his piece, Devlin wrote: “At the moment it is looking unlikely that Karamoko Dembele will sign a contract extension.”

Supporters will be devastated

Considering just how highly-rated Dembele is both at Celtic and by the wider footballing world, should the winger go on to leave the Hoops on a free transfer at the end of the current campaign, the Parkhead faithful will undoubtedly be devastated.

Indeed, the £225k-rated prodigy was named on the shortlist for the 2020 European Golden Boy award, while Postecoglou himself has previously stated just how high his hopes for the 19-year-old are.

Speaking earlier this season, the Greek-Australian manager said of the £2k-per-week forward: “He is obviously a hugely talented boy. He has been here for a while and I guess he gets an opportunity now. I think the way we play will suit him.”

However, after fracturing his ankle in pre-season, Dembele has so far featured just twice for Celtic this term, playing a mere 20 minutes of first-team football under the management of the 56-year-old Hoops boss.

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And, with the likes of Liel Abada and James Forrest ahead of the youngster in the Bhoys’ right-wing pecking order at present, it would appear the 19-year-old’s path to a regular spot in Celtic’s matchday squads is somewhat blocked – something that will be unlikely to convince the player who Brendan Rodgers dubbed a “special talent” that he does have a future at Parkhead.

As such, unless Postecoglou can convince Dembele that he will be guaranteed a decent amount of game time at Celtic, the winger could very easily leave the club at the end of his current deal – something that would mark a very sad day for everyone involved with the Hoops.

AND in other news: Kieran Devlin drops early Celtic team news ahead of County, supporters will be buzzing

Writing for The Athletic, journalist Jack Pitt-Brooke has praised Fabio Paratici for the double capture of Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski in the January transfer window. 

The lowdown: January chaos

Signed in a last-gasp deadline day swoop, Tottenham bolstered their squad to the tune of two apparent Juventus outcasts.

Swedish forward Kulusevski arrived on an 18-month loan deal whilst Uruguayan central midfielder Bentancur made a permanent switch in a deal worth up to £21.5million (Sky Sports).

Of course, those moves came at the end of a chaotic month which saw other deals fall through, but both players have since had a positive effect on Antonio Conte’s side and at present have made a combined 17 Premier League appearances.

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The latest: Pitt-Brooke impressed

Taking to Twitter, Pitt-Brooke hails the ‘rare’ success of the ‘really good’ January additions after the winter window was initially dismissed as a failure.

The Spurs journalist has described the duo as ‘instantly’ improving Conte’s charges, with 24-year-old Bentancur lauded as an ‘instant upgrade’ on previous options.

Going on to describe the Uruguayan as a ‘very gifted’ footballer, Pitt-Brooke also states that the 20 times capped Swedish ace, Kulusevski, has ‘notably improved’ Tottenham.

The verdict: An undoubted success story

Given the previous lacklustre business since the arrival of Fabio Paratici as Managing Director of Football, it would appear the Italian has succeeded on this occasion.

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Whilst Conte was initially disparaging about the winter business as Bryan Gil, Dele Alli and Tanguy Ndombele made way with just two first-team incomings, the upturn in performances would suggest that Spurs are in a better place than before the mid-season market.

Albeit a top-four finish is far from nailed on, with the likes of Bentancur and Kulusevski in the squad, the Lilywhites have given themselves every opportunity.

In other news: Tottenham eyeing record-breaking striker signing, find out more here.

Rangers have not been shy when it comes to spending money on bringing new players to Ibrox over the past few years to help strengthen their squad.

However, as happens with almost any team, they don’t always secure the signing of every player who gets mentioned with a move to the club.

One example of a player who was publicly named as a potential transfer target for the Ibrox outfit in the past that they will regret not signing is Samuel Eto’o.

Speaking back in 2002, then-Gers boss Alex McLeish named Eto’o as a player he liked after sending his assistant Andy Watson to watch the striker in action in a friendly between Cameroon and Argentina.

After scoring 69 goals in 157 appearances for Real Mallorca, the attacker joined Barcelona in the summer of 2004, where he racked up 130 goals in 199 appearances, winning numerous trophies along the way including two Champions League titles.

With five years at Barcelona under his belt, the Cameroon international then made the move to Italy with Inter Milan, once again winning numerous titles and enforcing his reputation as a deadly goalscorer, finding the back of the net 53 times in 102 appearances.

Following that, Eto’o had spells with numerous clubs across England, Russia, Turkey and Qatar before retiring in 2019 with a grand total of 362 goals to his name in what was undoubtedly a glittering career.

Labelled an “outstanding” character by Pep Guardiola and a “special player” by Jose Mourinho, two of the most successful managers of all time, it’s safe to say that McLeish had a howler by not making sure he secured Eto’o’s signature when he and his assistant were looking at him for Rangers.

Had the 41-year-old joined the Light Blues before he eventually moved to Barcelona, the Gers may have had their hands on what could have become a prolific and iconic goalscorer in the club’s history.

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While there would have been no guarantee that Barcelona or any other club would have tried to sign the centre-forward at any point had he joined Rangers in 2002, it still could have been a great sight for the Ibrox faithful to see such a talented attacker in their side.

Either way, McLeish will have to live with his mistake in what will now go down as a classic case of what could have been.

In other news: Rangers had a major disaster on “complete” 243 G/A ace who’s “like Harry Potter”…

Craig Hope has dropped some Newcastle United transfer news involving both Sven Botman and Diego Carlos.

The Lowdown: Wanted men

Both Botman and Carlos were subject of strong interest at St. James’ Park in the January transfer window, as they reportedly made a bid for the former, while they pushed hard to try and sign Carlos after failing with Botman.

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Nonetheless, they ended up signing Dan Burn from Brighton and Hove Albion instead, who has been superb, but that may not stop them looking for another central defender in the summer.

The Latest: Hope update

Replying to a Magpies fan on Twitter, The Daily Mail journalist Hope has revealed that the North East club sent officials to watch Lille’s clash at Stamford Bridge, but could now be looking at alternative options to Botman and Carlos:

“Sven Botman is interesting. They watched him when Lille played at Chelsea recently but there’s also now a suggestion they’re looking at other options.

“I’d say Diego Carlos is looking less likely given age & fee, it felt like one for January only.”

The Verdict: Botman over Carlos

If the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium were only to bring one of the players to Tyneside, then Botman should be the one that they go for.

The Lille centre-back is currently averaging more interceptions and clearances than Carlos is for Sevilla in their respective domestic leagues, while offensively, he has scored more goals, made more assists, and averages more dribbles and key passes at a higher success rate (WhoScored).

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Crucially though, Botman is also seven years younger than Carlos at just 22, and so has a much higher ceiling.

Nonetheless, either would help elevate the quality of the backline, but if the Toon had to go for one, then Botman’s their man.

In other news, find out which ‘insane’ colossus NUFC are now ‘interested’ in here!