‘Hefty Fee’ – BBC pundit tips Rangers to land £5m windfall on starter as replacement lined up

Ridvan Yilmaz’s performances mean that if he leaves in the summer Rangers could now make their “hefty fee” back on him, according to Kenny Miller.

The BBC Sport pundit said on Clyde 1 Superscoreboard on 8 March that the Turkish defender has rebounded after looking like he was set to leave in January and will either be the long-term starter or make the club some nice money in the summer after driving his price up this season.

Journalist Roger Hannah suggested Borna Barisic might be on the way out as well but tipped January target Jefte to come in and potentially displace Yilmaz as the first-choice under Philippe Clement, despite his good form.

Hannah said (31m 25s): “It looked as if he was going to go to Hellas Verona to replace Josh Doig. It looked as if Jefte, the Brazilian from Cyprus, was going to come in. That deal didn’t go through, there was complications with his parent club and his loan club. I think Rangers might try and resurrect that bid in the summer.

“You wonder if Borna Barisic will leave in the summer and whether it will be Jefte as first choice and what that means for Yilmaz. But the way he’s been playing lately he’s not done himself any harm… for the rest of the season he’s established himself as first choice, and beyond that you wonder if he’s done enough to really breathe life into his Rangers career.”

Miller added: “It’s taken him a bit of time to settle because it did look like he was going to be leaving in January. There’s two things there.

“He’s either going to be the number one left-back when Barisic leaves… or in the summer that transfer value could have driven up because he’s performing to such a high level at this moment, domestically and in Europe, if anybody is looking at him then Rangers might get that transfer fee back that they did there, which was quite a hefty fee at the time.”

The Turk arrived in a deal worth up to £5million prior to last season [Sky Sports].

Jefte to replace late-bloomer Ridvan Yilmaz as Rangers starter at Ibrox?

Whatever happens in the coming months Yilmaz, 22, has at least belatedly done what he was originally brought in for, to displace 31-year-old Barisic in the regular XI.

Clement has still used the Croatian veteran in rotation but the balance has certainly tipped towards the younger man, who has finally put together a run of good performances uninterrupted by injury.

Rangers were clearly ready to let the former Besiktas man leave midseason if they had got a suitable offer, but they likely believed Jefte was on his way in as an immediate replacement.

The Brazilian is believed to be on the cards still after a verbal agreement was struck to complete the deal in the upcoming window.

If the numbers work it would likely now make sense for the Fluminense man to come replace Barisic given how things have gone over the past few weeks, but it seems unlikely that all three will be at Ibrox next season so if Yilmaz is earmarked to fund other deals then at the very least his asking price has surely been enhanced by his recent form.