Steven Gerrard’s Rangers acquired two new attacking players on Tuesday. As reported by BBC Sport, the Scottish club signed forwards Kemar Roofe and Cedric Itten to four-year contracts.
These two new players will help aid Rangers in the long-term as they look to bolster their attacking options. With star striker Alfredo Morelos rumoured to be on his way out, these transfers will provide some relief if he does indeed depart in the coming weeks.
Securing Pair of Strikers Will Help Rangers in the Future
Kemar Roofe Looks to Rebound From Injury
Roofe will be with his second club in the last two seasons. Just a year prior to his transfer to Rangers, he moved from Leeds United to Anderlecht in Belgium. Injuries reduced the impact Roofe had with the Belgian club; he has not played a league match for them since December of 2019. A calf injury kept him out of the line-up, but he still made an impact in the matches he did feature in.
During his time with Anderlecht, he showed his quality when he scored five goals in five matches from matchday 11 through 15. This was arguably his best recent run of form. Roofe would go on to score one more goal to finish with six goals in 13 appearances, which was the final tally for his 2019/20 season in the Jupiler Pro League.
In his prior time with Leeds, before joining Anderlecht, he produced 11 goals in 36 appearances and 14 goals in 32 appearances in retrospective seasons in the EFL Championship.
This has the potential to be a very good signing for Rangers, as Roofe has proven over the last few seasons he is capable of being a consistent producer of goals.
Cedric Itten’s First Test Abroad
Itten’s arrival at Rangers will be the first time in his career he will play in a league outside of his native Switzerland. The 23-year-old striker has previously played for FC Luzern, FC Basel and FC St. Gallen. All of the aforementioned clubs play in the Swiss Super League.
The past season was the most successful for Itten in terms of the number of goals he scored. In 34 appearances, he recorded 19 goals. It saw him finish second in the Super League Golden Boot race.
His recent run of form has allowed him to feature for Switzerland’s senior national team. In November of 2019, he made back-to-back appearances in the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifiers. Itten scored in both of those matches.
This appears to be a great addition to Rangers as they prepare for what seems to be the eventual departure of Morelos. Itten is coming off of his best season to date and will certainly be looking to translate his success to the Scottish Premiership.
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