Sports
Rangers “in talks” to sell Ibrox dud who’s been a worse signing than Dowell
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.
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 |
||
|---|---|---|
|
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.
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.
Rohl can bin Aasgaard by signing £5m gem who’d be a “huge coup” for Rangers
Danny Rohl could drop Thelo Aasgaard from the team with a Rangers swoop for this reported target.
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.
