Pivotal week for Rangers as major activity planned: new manager, backroom upheaval, three players wanted
Koppen set for exit - and players could join him out of Ibrox
New Rangers sporting director Kevin Thelwell will take up his position on Monday morning at Ibrox, with a series of big decisions set to be made.
Thelwell joins Rangers from Everton, just four days after a consortium led up by Andrew Cavenagh and 49ers Enterprises purchased the Ibrox club. Their arrival is expected to signal some major changes at the Glasgow club.
Rangers’ search for a new head coach is likely to come to a conclusion this week as Cavenagh, who is the new chairman, and Thelwell settle on their preferred candidate. Former boss Steven Gerrard came out of the running last week, with ex-Southampton head coach Russell Martin moving to odds-on favouritism over the weekend ahead of Davide Ancelotti, who remains available after leaving Real Madrid last month.
Rangers are also poised to make a significant move behind the scenes, with reports over the weekend claiming that technical director Nils Koppen will be removed from his position.
Koppen was promoted to that role from director of recruitment just six months ago, but it is anticipated that the Belgian - who is credited with bringing the likes of Hamza Igamane, Jefte and Vaclav Cerny to Rangers - will be moved on by the new regime. There is already speculation that Dan Purdy, who worked alongside Thelwell at Everton, will replace him.
Another summer of transition therefore awaits Rangers, who return to competitive action in the second round of the Champions League qualifiers on July 22. As well as a new manager, there will be players coming in - as well as some departures.
Rangers trio in demand
Three current members of the first-team squad have been linked with transfers over the weekend. Besiktas have been credited with an interest in Turkish left-back Ridvan Yilmaz, while Dutch centre-half Robin Propper has been linked with a return to FC Twente, the club he left a year ago to join Rangers.
There is also reported interest in Ivorian central midfielder Mohamed Diomande, with English Premier League outfit Everton monitoring his situation. The Toffees are undergoing a major rebuild of their own and have scouted the former FC Nordsjaelland man over the past six months,
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