Rangers flop makes another bad transfer after £17m disaster yields four goals in 50 games

Unfortunately, Rangers know more than most about transfers not working out as planned.

The jury remains out on some of Rangers’ most expensive additions of recent times – see Danilo, Mohamed Diomande and Nedim Bajrami – while others belong firmly in the ‘flop’ category.

See Sam Lammers, that £3 million investment returning just two goals in 31 matches, as well as Juninho Bacuna, Jose Cifuentes, Cedric Itten, Eros Grezda and almost every player to arrive from overseas during the trauma-inducing reign of Pedro Caixinha.

In terms of disappointments, however, even Carlos Pena, Eduardo Herrera and the aforementioned Lammers would struggle to knock Umar Sadiq off the podium. A striker who managed a grand total of four goalless appearances under Steven Gerrard during a 2018 loan spell from Roma. A striker who’s most memorable contribution to the Rangers clause was a desperate dive in a Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Aberdeen.

Rangers flop Umar Sadiq continues to bounce around clubs

To Sadiq’s credit, a 28-year-old with more stamps on his passport than Michael Palin has done extremely well to carve out a respectable career for himself post-Ibrox. A fine spell in Serbia with Partizan Belgrade paved the way for his 43-goal in 83-game stint at Almeria.

But if those two transfers proved inspired, putting Umar Sadiq on the map following six seperate loan spells of varying success, then the same certainly cannot be said of the two moves which followed.

That goal-every-other-game record with Almeria was explanation why Real Sociedad signed Umar Sadiq in a £17 million deal following the departure of Alexander Isak to Newcastle United.

From the pantheon of Rangers striking disasters to a 20 million euro La Liga frontman in the space of four years. It had been quite the rise.

What might have become of Umar Sadiq had he not ruptured his ACL days after scoring a maiden La Real goal against Atletico Madrid?