Rangers transfer recruit enters Champions League exclusion zone as he misses out with squad revealed

Rangers will attempt to reach for the new-look Champions League this season and Philippe Clement’s 22-man squad has been confirmed for their third round qualifying meeting with Dynamo Kyiv.

UEFA’s deadline for registering squads for the two-legged tie was at 11pm on Thursday and Clement had a couple of big decisions to make including whether to name latest signing Robin Propper with some paperwork still outstanding that could deny him a competitive debut against Hearts this weekend.

However, the former FC Twente captain does make the final cut along with Czech winger Vaclav Cerny, while £1.7m Moroccan striker Hamza Igamane is a shock inclusion given little has been seen of him since his arrival this summer. Unsurprisingly, there’s no place for wantway midfielder Todd Cantwell, who has been bombed out of the first-team squad after handing in a transfer request last month.

Clement has made it clear the door remains open for the ex-Norwich City man to perform a U-turn, but he has been omitted from the club’s latest European roster according to UEFA with Clement opting to name just FOUR midfielders. Nicolas Raskin misses out through injury and Clinton Nsiala doesn’t meet the required criteria to be included in the B list, while there’s no room for Ianis Hagi. 22-year-old goalkeeper Lewis Budinauckas, who has been involved in the Gers’ pre-season games, will be in the mix to travel to Poland next week for the clash with the Ukrainian side. Dynamo Kyiv thrashed Serbian outfit FK Partizan 9-2 on aggregate in the second qualifying round to outline their credentials and will provide tricky opposition for the Gers. The Glasgow giants can bank around £4million if they managed to overcome the Blue & Whites and reach the play-off round. If successful, Clement is then entitled to making unlimited changes for the two legs against whoever they are paired with in Monday’s draw.

UEFA guidelines dictate that eight slots must be reserved for “homegrown talent” or “locally trained” players. However, any new potential signings can still be added to the squad before next week's' clash with current rules allowing any club to add a maximum of two new players to the squad up and including the day before the game takes place.

Rangers squad to face Dynamo Kyiv

Goalkeepers: 

• Jack Butland
• Liam Kelly
• Lewis Budinauckas

Defenders: 

• James Tavernier
• Ridvan Yilmaz
• Robin Propper
• John Souttar
• Dujon Sterling
• Jefte
• Ben Davies
• Leon Balogun

• Oscar Cortes
• Connor Barron
• Mohamed Diomande
• Kieran Dowell

• Cyriel Dessers
• Tom Lawrence
• Rabbi Matondo
• Vaclav Cerny
• Scott Wright
• Hamza Igamane
• Danilo