Out in the cold Rangers star 'not satisfied' with Ibrox game time despite thriving on the International stage
The Rangers ace has been defended by his International boss after a lack of minutes this season.
As the International break commences for the last time this year, a number of Rangers stars have been chosen to represent their countries.
The Ibrox side have enjoyed a domestic resurgence under Danny Rohl, having won three of their last three in the SPFL Premiership. Since the departure of Russell Martin, a number of Ibrox talents have improved their performances, including Mikey Moore and Jayden Meghoma.
However, one man whose situation hasn’t change under the new manager is Nedim Bajrami, who is yet to feature so far for Rohl having lost his place in the starting XI earlier on in the season. Despite his lack of minutes at club level, Bajrami remains one of the star performers in the Albania squad. Eagles manager, Sylvinho would like to see his talisman get more Rangers game time.
Bajrami ‘not satisfied’ with Rangers minutes
The Brazilian boss stuck by the midfielder, who has been in fine goalscoring form for his National side. He said: “Bajrami has been part of a very good journey with us. "Do you know who our top scorer has been in the last three years? It's Bajrami with seven goals.”
Albania’s most recent match was a friendly against Jordan, where Bajrami managed to get on the scoresheet. They now are in a race with arch rivals, Serbia for a play-off spot in UEFA World Cup qualification Group K. Over the next two games they will face Andorra and group leaders, England in two matches Bajrami is set to start in.
Sylvinho continued: “so I want players who know how to score goals in my squad. It's true that I am not happy or satisfied with his position at his club. And he is not satisfied either. But I look at his numbers and have faith in him."
International hero to Rangers zero
Phillipe Clement signed Bajrami for Rangers from Sassuolo in 2024 partly because of his International exploits. The 26-year old impressed in Euro 2024, where he scored the fastest ever goal in the competition against the Italians after just 23 seconds.
In his first few months, Bajrami had a healthy knack of scoring important goals for Rangers, including in his Europa League debut against Malmo and in an away defeat to Aberdeen. He also loved a game at Hampden, scoring the winner against Motherwell in the League Cup semi-final as well as the Govan side’s opener in the final itself against Celtic.
But despite his promising start, the Albanian would have a tendency to go missing in games, which led to him losing his place in the starting XI. When Martin arrived in the summer, he grew even more out of favour and was omitted from the Europa League squad altogether. With no appearances under Rohl to date, despite his International boss’ best wishes, there’s no signs that he will make his way back into the squad any time soon.