Rangers’ Nils Koppen appears to hint Fabio Silva was a good signing | OneFootball

As we are covering a little today, Rangers Director of Football Recruitment Nils Koppen offered his first-ever words in the position he now holds, and while there was a lot for fans to chew on, we must say his endorsement of his own work in January certainly raises an eyebrow.

The Belgian was given the role just prior to January’s window, early December to be exact, but wasn’t able to start till January 2nd and was dumped straight into the role ‘right in the middle of a transfer window’, but it’s his assertion that he was happy with January’s business that is interesting.

He said:

Now this is an interesting angle on it.

Koppen is not a football manager, he’s a football businessman – his job at Rangers is to lead the scouting and signing department of Rangers, and these words confirm that.

From many sources, Koppen was hugely responsible personally for the addition of Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Fabio Silva, a signing that was ultimately disastrous for Rangers, which goes to show that the man is working with data, with objectives, and as far as he is concerned, signing a (theoretical) £35M striker on loan, a promising Ivory Coast player worth £4.5M and a promising Colombian winger worth the same amount also on loan is good business.

That absolutely none of these additions (have) remotely worked out on the pitch is, to Koppen, neither here nor there.

His objective was to ensure manager Philippe Clement was supplied with players who fit the data of what the club was looking for.

And that he’s quite happy that he did his end in January shows that he isn’t terribly bothered that Dio, Cortes and especially Silva were not good signings on the pitch.

He has also suggested he’s happy with the summer work too, despite Rangers being third and very few of the additions truly shining in an impressive manner.

Again, this distances himself from the actual work on the pitch, and shows he’s focused on achieving paper and data-based objectives, and if he secures those, he’s done his bit.

If Fabio Silva fails miserably, well, that’s not his fault, frankly.

Is that what Rangers need? Probably not, in truth, but them’s the facts.