Rangers Overhaul: McInnes Targets Four More Signings

Rangers are not tinkering this summer. They are tearing into the squad with intent.

Olwethu Makhanya’s arrival from Philadelphia Union has kicked the door open, not closed it. The South African defender is only the start. Up to four more signings are being lined up, but only once a wave of departures clears the way.

The exits have already begun. Oliver Antman has gone to Anderlecht, a move that trims the options in the final third. Nedim Bajrami is edging towards the Saudi Pro League, another creative body likely to disappear from Derek McInnes’ attacking and midfield pool.

That is no accident. This is a reset, not a reshuffle.

Wings and walls: McInnes’ blueprint

Those close to the Ibrox corridors are clear about the manager’s priorities. McInnes wants pace and punch out wide. He is pushing for two wingers before the window shuts, determined to add genuine threat on the flanks after a season in which Rangers too often lacked edge in wide areas.

The message is blunt: more firepower, more direct running, more goals from the sides of the pitch.

At the same time, the back line is under the microscope. Makhanya is one piece of the puzzle, not the completed picture. Rangers want two more defenders, with the expectation that John Souttar will move on sharpening the need for extra cover and competition.

McInnes knows he cannot go into a gruelling domestic and European campaign with a defence that feels one injury away from a crisis.

Midfield on hold – unless a big name goes

Central midfield tells a different story. Another body in the middle is not at the top of the list. Not yet.

Any move for Jens Herto Dahl of Tromso is effectively parked unless Rangers manage to shift one of Connor Barron, Mo Diomande or, most dramatically, Nico Raskin. Those names are the levers that would free up space and salary. One of them in particular would change everything.

Raskin is the financial pivot of the entire window. The Belgian is valued at more than £20 million and has serious admirers, Villarreal among them, as well as other clubs across Europe. A sale at that level would instantly turbocharge McInnes’ rebuild, handing him the kind of budget that can alter the shape and ceiling of the squad in a single window.

Lose a key midfielder, gain the funds to transform the team. It is the hard arithmetic of modern football.

Time pressure before Tannadice

All of this plays out against the ticking clock of the new season. Rangers open their Premiership campaign on Friday night away to Dundee United at Tannadice. The schedule does not wait for anyone.

McInnes has been clear: he wants fresh faces through the door quickly, not in a late scramble. The aim is simple – get signings in early enough that they are not learning names and systems on the bus to a European qualifier.

The window has already brought change, but the manager is adamant that the job is not done. With just over a month until the deadline, the club’s energy is locked on two areas: width and defence. Quality and depth in those positions will decide how far this squad can go.

Supporters, as ever, are watching the arrivals board and the departures lounge with equal intensity, hoping the new recruits are not just numbers but instant upgrades.

McInnes has inherited a squad in transition and a club still backed by the 49ers’ investment. The tools are there. The next few weeks will show whether Rangers can turn an ambitious plan on paper into a team built to challenge on every front – or whether one big sale and a handful of bold bets will define the season before a ball has truly settled.