RANGERS head coach Russell Martin has reported himself hopeful of tying up a loan deal for Brentford left-back Jayden Meghoma – as he told striker Hamza Igamane to forget about starting against Club Brugge on Champions League duty.
Martin worked with 19-year-old Meghoma during his time at Southampton and saw him move to Brentford for £10million in 2024 before going to Preston North End on loan in the second half of last term.
With Jefte set to join Brazilians Palmeiras in a deal worth up to £6m and Ridvan Yilmaz tipped to go back to Turkey, Martin started yesterday’s 4-2 Premier Sports Cup win over Alloa with Bailey Rice at left-back and is keen to have Meghoma in for the qualifying round play-off with Brugge.
However, he has told Igamane that a decent showing as a second-half substitute against the Wasps will not be enough to grant him a place in the team for that £40m-plus shoot-out with the Belgians.
Rangers want to sign promising Brentford left-back Jayden Meghoma on loan
Ibrox left-back Jefte is set to move to Brazilian side Palmeiras in a £6m deal
Asked if the Moroccan, who replaced an ineffective Danilo, was ready to start with Cyriel Dessers still battling injury, Martin replied: ‘No. I think we have to look at his physical condition. He’s literally just come back.
He played half-an-hour. It’s a very different game.
‘I’m not sure how long we would get from him from the start, so we have to utilise him and Thelo (Aasgaard) in the right way.
‘I really liked Hamza’s energy when he came on. He can do things that other players can’t.
‘Sometimes he looks a bit mad, but, if we can get him to make decisions a bit more consistently, I think he’ll really help us.
‘He wants to express himself, he wants to play. There’s never a problem making a mistake as long as the reaction is really, really good.’
On Meghoma, Martin, who worked with him during the 2023-24 as manager at Southampton, added: ‘Jefte was in yesterday, and, by yesterday evening, he’s maybe not going to be here moving forward because it’s a good deal for him and the club.
Martin insists Hamza Igamane will not play in the Champions League tie with Brugge
‘We’ll see what happens over the next couple of days with that. And so, we have to be ready to replace him, and we always have been ready. So Jay is a player we know from Southampton, spent a year with us as a young boy, training every day, understands the work, top talent, plays for England at all the youth levels.
‘Brentford signed him for a lot of money for a teenager, and he went on loan last year and to the Championship did really well, so he’s a player we know and like.
‘Hopefully, at some point, he’ll be a Rangers player and you’ll know that when he is.’
Martin,though, admitted there were elements of his side’s win over Alloa – goals from Nedim Bajrami, Manny Fernandez, James Tavernier and Findlay Curtis overcoming an own goal from Joe Rothwell and a Scott Taggart effort that made it 3-2 with 10 minutes to play – that left him unhappy.
‘I saw some really good bits and some stuff that I didn’t like, but I don’t think I expected anything different,’ he said. ‘With guys that just haven’t played very much, when you make 10 changes to the team, it’s going to disrupt something.
‘In the first half, after the first 15 minutes, when you can’t quite sustain the same level of intensity, they caused some problems – which shouldn’t happen.
Nedim Bajrami scores the opening goal in Rangers’ Premier Sports Cup win over Alloa
‘The most important bit was I wanted to see some intent to really run in the final third. And in moments we had that, we just couldn’t sustain it for long enough.
‘I think we’ve made a lot of changes by the second goal. When the guys are coming on the pitch, they have to really listen to what they’re doing. There were actually two players who are just not in the position they should be, which will probably help us a lot.
‘That’s about being really ready when you come on, so that’s the frustration. With the first goal, I feel for Liam (Kelly). We let a boy in on the inside in the first place. He just skips by, and then there’s moments we have four or five bodies, and I think it’s an own goal in the end.
‘So, yeah, it’s frustrating, but I don’t think I expected today to look perfect and fluid and beautiful. There’s so many players on the pitch who just haven’t played any minutes yet, and it’s been so full-on.’
Mikey Moore made his Rangers debut following his loan switch from Tottenham
Alloa manager Andy Graham talks to Rangers head coach Russell Martin
Mikey Moore, on loan from Spurs, was handed a debut and Martin was equally delighted to see Thelo Aasgaard recover from thigh trouble to appear in the second half.
‘Mikey showed glimpses. You saw some moments, and you also saw some moments where he’s a young boy sometimes,’ said Martin.
‘But we have to keep him free and let him express himself. It’s not always going to come off, but I loved his intent with the ball. We need more of that for sure.
‘He’ll keep getting better, so I’m really pleased with that. And Thelo, I think you can see what he’ll bring – the physical profile, the way he takes the ball, the way he moves.
‘There’s loads to come from this group.’
Alloa player-boss Andy Graham added: ‘My overriding emotion is pride.
‘You’re always going to think “what if” when you get it to 3-2 with a couple of minutes to go, but I’m not sitting here saying we deserved to win the game.’
