A dream for Raskin & Ancelotti: Rangers looking to sign “talented” £4m star

It’s set to be a very busy summer at Rangers. With 49ers Enterprises, spearheaded by Paraag Marathe, close to finalising their 51% takeover of the Ibrox side, they’ve got plenty of work to do before Champions League qualifying commences early on 22/23 July.

Rangers need a new manager and, after a trophyless campaign, the squad requires major surgery too, but could they land a “very talented” midfielder, who would suit the style of play of one of the front-runners to become the new boss?

The latest on Davide Ancelotti to Rangers

As reported by Spanish outlet AS, Carlo Ancelotti’s son, Davide Ancelotti, is one of the front-runners to become the new Rangers manager, claiming that the 35-year-old is excited by the ‘project’.

Mark Atkinson of the Scotsman notes that Ancelotti previously worked with Rangers’ new sporting director Kevin Thelwell at Everton, while Guillem Balague and Chris McLaughlin of BBC Sport are reporting that an official approach has now been made.

Ancelotti has been his father assistant at Bayern Munich, Napoli, Everton and Real Madrid, but has never been a head coach in his own right, so it is difficult to forecast what a Davide team looks like, but one can only assume it would be similar to a Carlo side.

With that in mind, perhaps their latest transfer target might be perfect.

The first signing of the Ancelotti era?

According to a report by TEAMtalk earlier this week, Rangers are ‘plotting’ a move to sign midfielder Metinho, who they claim is valued at £4m.

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Born in DR Congo, Abemly Meto Silu and his father Abel fled when he was just one-year-old, moving to Rio de Janeiro, earning the nickname Metinho during his time in Fluminense’s academy.

After turning pro, he was picked up by the City Football Group, officially attached to Troyes, although he’s never made a senior appearance for the Ligue 2 side, loaned out to Lommel in Belgium, another CFG-owned club, as well as Sparta Rotterdam and then, most-recently FC Basel.

The table below illustrates his globe-trotting career so far.

Since leaving Brazil, he has played in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland, so could Scotland be next on this list?

This weekend Basel were crowned Swiss champions for the first time since 2017 and, while Metinho has only made 11 appearances for the RotBlau, he’s quickly established himself as a key figure, dubbed ‘the Brazilian Paul Pogba’ due to their stylistic similarities.

So, where would the 22-year-old fit in at Ibrox, and could he be the perfect first signing for an Ancelotti-led Rangers side?

Where Metinho would fit in at Rangers

Samuel Bannister of Team Talk notes that Metinho is ‘known for his versatility and composure’, adding that ‘he stands out for his ability at taking on opponents… but he’s also good at stopping opponents getting past him’.

​​​​​Meanwhile, Jacek Kulig of Football Talent Scout describes the 22-year-old as “very talented”, while adding in a separate player profile that the Brazilian is a ‘defensive midfielder…. best suited’ to playing at the base of a 4-3-3.

So, could this make him the perfect signing for Rangers’ player of the season Nicolas Raskin who, as noted by Pete O’Rourke of Football Insider, has been ‘one of few silver linings’ in an otherwise miserable campaign for the Gers?

Scott Bradley of Breaking the Lines believes the now Belgian international ‘has the potential to be something special’, with Brandon Liss of Total Football Analysis describing him as a ‘deep-lying playmaker’ who likes to ‘spray passes​​​​​​​’ and ‘roam vertically from touchline to touchline’, suggesting Metinho’s tactical discipline could certainly help to get the best out of him.

Thus, Raskin and Metinho’s skill sets appear to perfectly complement one another, and one can totally envisage the duo operating in a Real Madrid-esque 4-3-3, should Ancelotti arrive at Ibrox.

Of course, neither are quite as good as Aurélien Tchouaméni, Eduardo Camavinga, Federico Valverde or Luka Modrić, which is a pretty high bar in fairness, but, as a pair, they could form the building blocks as Rangers look to rebuild a competitive team.

Perhaps in this situation, Raskin would act as the Modric-like midfielder while Mettinho would be more of a Tchouameni, sitting deeper and protecting the defence while the Belgian goes about creating play.

As referenced earlier, with Metinho valued at just £4m, this is exactly the sort of high-potential, low-cost transfer Rangers need to be targeting and need to get right, if they’re going to be able to compete with Celtic at the top of the table.

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