Glasgow Rangers have endured a frustrating start to the Scottish Premiership campaign under Russell Martin, drawing both of their matches so far.

The Light Blues were held to a 1-1 draw by Dundee at Ibrox on Saturday and needed a stoppage-time penalty from James Tavernier to even rescue a point.

The Light Blues know that they need to improve, as they are already four points off the top of the table after two games, and are putting in work behind the scenes to add new players to the group.

According to reports on the continent, Rangers have agreed a deal to sign Real Betis central defender for a fee that is worth around £2.6m.

The reporter adds that the 20-year-old talent will have his medical in Scotland on Wednesday before officially completing his transfer to Ibrox.

Real Betis will also have a 20% sell-on clause as part of the deal, which means that they will get 20% of any future profit Rangers may make on the £2.6m that they are set to pay for Mendy.

What Nobel Mendy could bring to Rangers

This is an interesting move by the Scottish giants and it is a difficult one to judge because he has not been exposed to a lot of first-team football in his career so far.

Mendy has only played 107 minutes of football in LaLiga for Real Betis, starting one game, to date, and spent most of the 2024/25 campaign playing for Real Betis B.

This means that it is hard to judge how he will adapt to playing in the Premiership for Rangers because he has not been in a senior environment for a significant period of time.

What we do know about Mendy, though, is that he is a left-footed centre-back and that is something that Martin does not currently have in his first-team squad, because Clinton Nsiala and Ben Davies have not been a part of the set-up so far this season.

This means that he could provide good balance to the way the team builds out from the back by being able to comfortably pass the ball down the left side on his preferred foot.

Appearances

2

13

Starts

1

12

Pass accuracy

87%

85%

Ball recoveries per game

3.5

7.9

Clearances per game

4.5

2.0

Duel success rate

100%

41%

However, as you can see in the table above, the youngster did lose 59% of his duels for Real Betis B over 13 games at league level last season, which suggests that he may not yet be up for the physicality of playing senior football week-in-week-out.

This means that the Light Blues may have to be patient with Mendy, instead of rushing him into the side, as he does not appear to be ready to step in and make an instant impact in the first-team.

Rangers lining up move for Championship star

Meanwhile, the Scottish giants are reportedly looking at signing another young talent who could come in as an even better addition than Mendy.

Transfer Focus

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According to journalist Alan Nixon, via his Patreon, as relayed by GIVEMESPORT, Rangers are one of the teams in the race to sign Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Pierce Charles.

The reporter claims that the EFL Championship outfit have listed the Northern Ireland international up for sale and are set to demand a fee in the region of £8m for his services.

Rangers, who signed Djeidi Gassama from the Owls earlier this summer, are now lining up a potential swoop for the shot-stopper, although they have yet to bid for his services.

The outlet adds that the Gers may only make their move if the asking price drops from the £8m that Wednesday are currently demanding for the 20-year-old talent.

Why Rangers should sign Pierce Charles

Rangers should push to get a deal done for the Northern Irish titan before the end of the summer transfer window if he becomes available at a price that is affordable for the club.

The Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper, dubbed “amazing” by Anthony Elanga, is the same age as Mendy, 20, but would arrive as an even better signing because his experience in senior football suggests that he can make an instant impact at Ibrox.

Unlike the Betis youngster, who struggled with the physicality of B team football last term, Charles has produced impressive performances in a first-team environment.

The Northern Ireland international has only conceded 15 goals in 13 games for Sheffield Wednesday since the start of the 2024/25 campaign, despite their struggles, and made a staggering 11 saves in their first match of this season against Leicester City, per Sofascore.

Save percentage

66.7%

66.3%

Saves*

2.50

2.18

Goals prevented*

0.27

-0.08

High claims*

1.38

1.11

Long pass accuracy

52.5%

39.4%

As you can see in the table above, his performances in the Championship for the Owls were even more impressive than Jack Butland’s were in the Premiership for the Gers.

Despite a couple of strong showings in Champions League qualifiers, Butland has not had the best start to the Premiership season. He has conceded 0.66 more than expected, after letting in 0.72 more than expected last term, per FotMob.

Meanwhile, Charles prevented 0.90 xG against Leicester and prevented 2.14 xG across eight outings in the Championship last term, which suggests that he could arrive at Ibrox as a player who could step in and make an instant impact as an upgrade on Butland as a shot-stopper.

It is not only his shot-stopping that is impressive, though, as the £8m-rated star is also excellent with the ball at his feet, which is backed up by his far superior long pass percentage in comparison to the current Gers number one.

The clips in the post above illustrate why Charles could be a vital signing for the way that Martin wants his team to play, because he is composed under pressure and has a terrific technique with both long and short passes.

This suggests that the Owls star would be a perfect fit for what the manager is looking for with his style of play, whilst also potentially being an upgrade on Butland as an out-and-out shot-stopper.

That is why Charles would be an even better signing than Mendy because he has shown that he has the quality to deliver quality performances at first-team level in the here and now, whilst it remains to be seen where the defender is at in his development.