RANGERS CONFIDENTIAL: Wednesday wonder Gassama would be a smash hit with Ibrox fans

DJEIDI GASSAMA looks sure to become a real fans’ favourite at Rangers after building up a solid relationship with the supporters and local community during his time at Sheffield Wednesday.

The 21-year-old winger, born in Mauritania and a France Under-20 internationalist, was a popular figure at Hillsborough on his way to delivering eight goals for the Owls in 47 appearances last term.

Gassama had his own song chanted last term, based on jumping on a flight from Paris Saint-Germain to Wednesday in 2023 and leaving Lionel Messi behind, and became known for supporting initiatives involving local kids.

Gassama admits building relationships with the punters in the stands is hugely important to him and will no doubt look to create similar bonds at Ibrox should club management be able to put the final touches to an estimated £2.5million deal.

‘Going in the community and with the kids is great for us and for them also,’ said Gassama in an interview on Wednesday’s official YouTube channel earlier this year.

‘Every time you see the fans in our games, it is very, very good for us because they help us and we need them at our back to win games.

‘(When they sing my name), it is very, very special. I like that and when they are singing like this, I want to score goals more and do everything for them. It is amazing.’

Rangers loan star Dijga urged to follow Mosquera path to Molineux success 

NASSER DJIGA has been challenged to follow in the footsteps of Wolves team-mate Yerson Mosquera and return to Molineux from time out on loan as a player ready for top-team action.

The Burkina Faso defender has arrived at Rangers on a temporary 12-month deal just six months after heading to the English Premier League in a £10million transfer from Serbian side Red Star Belgrade.

Wolves boss Vitor Pereira is clear that Djiga has to up his levels to threaten the likes of established central defenders Matt Doherty and Santi Bueno and has no doubt looked back at the journey of Mosquera in farming him out to Rangers.

Colombian Mosquera signed for Wolves from homeland side Atletico Nacional in 2021 and, after an injury-interrupted loan spell with FC Cincinatti in the MLS, was sent out to Villarreal in Spain’s La Liga for the final six months of the 2023-24 campaign after failing to make the breakthrough.

He played regularly there and returned to Wolves ready to begin last season as a major player - starting the opening five games of the league campaign.

Unfortunately, a cruciate ligament injury ended his season, but Mosquera was most definitely regarded as a first-pick after his time away elsewhere and that should give Djiga confidence that he can use his time in Glasgow as a platform to show Pereira he deserves more game time next term.

‘He’s learning,’ said Pereira. ‘He’s a player who is a team worker and he needs to learn. He needs to look at what [Matt] Doherty is doing because they play in the same position.”

‘To have a chance to put Nasser in the game is not easy, and we have Santi. He is someone that needs to improve, but he’s a worker.’

Will Windass get the chance to make amends for Ibrox mistake? 

JOSH WINDASS has been linked with a shock return to Rangers - after admitting he should never have walked away from Ibrox in the first place.

The 31-year-old midfielder appeared on the Open Goal podcast earlier this season to talk about quitting Glasgow for Wigan Athletic in 2018 and revealed it was something he regretted almost immediately.

Windass claimed he was told Wigan had made an offer by then manager Steven Gerrard on the team bus as he was preparing to play against Maribor in a European game. He says he wanted more money at time and jumped in his car to head south.

‘I had a nightmare,’ said Windass, who is lined up to leave current club Sheffield Wednesday as they deal with financial issues. ‘I don’t want to go over it. They activated my buyout clause.

‘He [Gerrard] came up to me and got me off the bus and told me: "These have put a bid in for you. I have obviously got to tell you because you’re not going to leave to go there” ... and then I left.

‘I didn’t have an agent or anything. It was a bad decision, but I just went straight down the motorway.

‘Mick Beale (then Gerrard’s No2) was texting me, saying you’re making a mistake. I was 23, I wanted a bigger wage. I was stupid.’

Windass also claimed Gerrard tried to bring him back to Rangers on a loan deal six months later - and says he was haunted for two years by the fact it didn’t go through.

‘We had a Zoom call about six months later because I was going to go back on loan in the January. Paul Cook wouldn’t let me go,' said Windass. ‘Gerrard basically gave me what for. He told me everything that was wrong with me and how I can improve and stuff as a person.

‘He said if we are going to bring you back, we need to have an honest conversation. I never went back anyway, and that was it.

‘It’s ages ago, so I’m not that bothered by it now. But for two years after, I was thinking about it every day until I signed for Sheffield Wednesday.’

Ring rusty Rangers risk being undercooked for Greek examination

For a new team, with so much to work on under their new manager, Rangers’ pre-season is surprisingly light on matches.

Their game against Club Brugge on Sunday was the only official friendly they will contest before the first competitive outing of the Russell Martin era.

While Middlesbrough are due at Ibrox on July 26, that will be four days after the first leg of Rangers’ Champions League qualifier against Panathinaikos.

By contrast, Panathinaikos will arrive in Glasgow on July 22 with four official friendlies under their belt - against Metalist 1925, Schalke, Braga and Westerlo.

In Greece, there is a degree of surprise at Rangers’ limited warm-up programme, a year after a schedule that included games against Standard Liege, Ajax, Manchester United, Birmingham City and Union Berlin.

It has led to suggestions that Rangers are asking for trouble in a game that has the potential to shape their season, but it is worth bearing in mind their logistical challenges this summer.

Martin has been there for only a month, the new owners just a little longer, so they can be forgiven if the arrangement of glamour friendlies wasn’t top of their agenda.

And, let’s be honest, with so much uncertainty over what the squad will look like in the next two weeks, is there really a lot to be gained from a public test of their credentials?

For a new-born team, learning a whole new way of playing, maybe it is best that their mistakes are made in closed-doors games, away from the fans and, perhaps more importantly, the media.

To that end, Rangers played - and lost to - Welsh side The New Saints at Auchenhowie last month. And they will have at least one more private match during their training camp at St George's Park, the FA’s national football centre, this week.

The bonus is that Panathinaikos will be able to see very little of Rangers ahead of their Champions League showdown, both legs of which will be held before the opening weekend of the Scottish Premiership.

In an ideal world, Martin would test an established Rangers team against several high-profile opponents and the club would boost their coffers in the process. But he can’t, they won’t … and, in the circumstances, maybe that isn’t such a bad thing.

Ancelotti's Botafogo stint provides a sliding doors scenario for Rangers fans 

Rangers supporters can be expected to keep a keen eye on the progress or otherwise of Botafogo in the months ahead.

With Davide Ancelotti installed as their new head coach, the Brazilian Serie A club will offer everyone at Ibrox a glimpse of what might have been.

The Italian was hot favourite at one stage to take the Rangers job and bring with him the experience he had gained in many years as assistant to his father, Carlo.

But the job went to Russell Martin, Ancelotti looked elsewhere and the chance to become a manager in his own right presented itself when Botafogo were eliminated from the Club World Cup.

The vacancy was created by the departure of Renato Paiva, whose team lost in the round of 16 to Brazilian rivals Palmeiras. Their group-stage campaign had included a victory against PSG.

Owned by American businessman John Textor, who also co-owns Crystal Palace, Botafogo have set high standards in recent times, most notably by winning the Brazilian title and the Copa Libertadores last year.

While Rangers would have been a big job for the 35-year-old, Botafogo is not exactly a forgiving environment either. Until last year, their managers were lucky if they lasted three months.

But there is an opportunity to make an impact at the club from Rio de Janeiro, who are eighth in the Brazilian top flight after 11 games, six points adrift of leaders Flamengo. His first game in charge is likely to be against Vasco da Gama on Saturday.

And Ancelotti will still have at close quarters his father, Carlo, with whom he worked at PSG, Everton, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. Ancelotti senior, now in charge of the Brazilian national team, has asked his son to assist him on a ‘call-up’ basis.

Who knows if Ancelotti junior would have been good for Rangers? His name excited supporters, but there was no experience of frontline management and no results with which to measure his potential. There soon will be.