Inside Rangers failed transfer pursuit of Ibrox fan favourite as Nils Koppen explains 'higher fee than Cortes' offer
The Ibrox chief also revealed what led the club to miss out on signing another target, Jose Cordoba
Nils Koppen has revealed Rangers did attempt to re-sign former £7million star Abdallah Sima from Brighton on a permanent deal in the summer transfer window.
The Senegalese winger, who spent last season on loan at Ibrox from the Premier League outfit, scored 16 goals in 40 appearances despite an injury-blighted second half of the campaign. The 23-year-old returned to the south coast to pursue a second chance to impress under new boss Fabian Hurzeler, but quickly learned his future lay elsewhere.
Sima subsequently headed to Ligue 1 side Stade Brest on another season-long loan and has been impressing for the French club, both domestically and in the Champions League. But Koppen has explained what happened behind the scenes as he sought to shed some light on fans frustrations over the club’s apparent lack of effort to bring Sima back to Govan.
The director of football recruitment confirmed a similar financial package to the one that was put on the table to bring Oscar Cortes from Lens was knocked back. Koppen told the Rangers Review: “The impression was that weren't going to go back for Sima, but that's not the case. We made an effort to bring Sima back to Glasgow permanently with a good offer, a higher fee than the one we agreed for Oscar Cortes. We tried to convince the player and the agent but the numbers were unrealistic so we pushed back on it.”
On injury-plagued winger Cortes - who is currently in the midst of another lengthy spell on the sidelines - Koppen remains confident that the Colombian will prove to be a successful signing. He continued: “Oscar came in with a blank injury record. No injuries, no scans, everything was perfect. We're looking into it as a club. I'm still confident in the move to bring him here. We signed him on a five- year deal and still believe in his potential over a longer period.”
The Light Blues were also keen to bring in Panama international Jose Cordoba at the start of the summer window after the centre-back left Bulgarian outfit Levski Sofia. A permanent deal seemed close to completion before a late change of heart resulted in the player snubbing the Gers in favour of joining English Championship side Norwich City for £3m instead.
On the transfer near-miss, Koppen added: “A lot of work had been done and we got to a point where everything was agreed. The player was here in Glasgow and attended a game but we didn't really feel that passion to come and play for Rangers.
“While there was an agreement in place, we decided that we can’t have a player at Rangers who has already started to doubt if this is the best place for him before he’s played a minute of football. It’s unfortunate because of how much work goes into the process but at the end of the day, you need to ask are we comfortable with the situation?”