Philippe Clement on Rangers' transfer window and No.9 hunt

Rangers manager Philippe Clement has been speaking ahead of the Premiership clash with Livingston.

Here is everything he had to say.

How would you rate the transfer window overall?

Great and I'm happy that it's finished and we know what the squad is to go on for the next four months. It's almost going to be a sprint now in the next four months with a lot of games and we know what the squad is. We adjusted a few things to get balance in the squad, we added some young and talented players who can raise their game here and add value to the club and also, in the future, to bring more money into the club. It's not the main concern, the main concern is to get results but with a good business plan.

What will Oscar Cortes bring?

He's somebody with a lot of talent. He's still young, he had his first experience in Europe with Lens. It wasn't the easiest one. I know Lens, there's a lot of competition there and a different playing style to what he was used to. He's more a winger and they play a system without wingers so for a new player it's not an easy thing to cope with to play in a different position and do things you're not used to doing. He's somebody with a lot of quality with a big future if he makes good steps and he learns the right things. I have really good experience with Colombian guys until now. In the past, I had Carlos Bacca and Jose Izquierdo at Brugge when I was assistant. They did a really good job there and got big transfers afterwards to the Premier League, Serie A and La Liga. I had Jhon Lucumi at Genk as a young player. I think Jhon was 18 or 19 when he came, a centre-back and he also made the right steps because all of the three worked hard. The thing with them is it's a culture shock so you need to take that into account and every individual is different in that way. Some need more time and some adapt fast. Izquierdo adapted fast, Bacca, in his career, was probably the best of the three, of course he had a little bit of bad luck with a big injury. With Carlos, I remember Christoph Daum was coach at the time with Brugge, after two months he went to the scouting team and smashed them saying that the player was so poor and so bad that he could not imagine why this guy was bought but four months later he was the best player in the team and one year later he became top scorer. He needed time to adapt so I will be really curious with Oscar and how fast his adaptation goes towards everything in Europe. It's our job, as a club and my job, my staff, everybody around, to help him so we're going to put a lot of attention into that next to the things on the field.

Did you want to bring another striker in?

I didn't speak before it and I will never speak after it about what we wanted and these discussions. Everybody worked really hard in the building. I think compared to a lot of other teams, we did really interesting things with the three guys we've brought in. There was a lot of competition for them so I'm happy with the squad that is here now. About the striking position, everybody is saying that Cyriel is doing a big evolution in the last three months, it's really clear for everybody and Fabio's already shown good things. He's still adapting to the team and the way of playing, that's normal. Kemar is also still in the building, he's not fit now but I expect him to be fit in the next weeks time. Dani, we will see if he will be back by the end of the season, maybe or not. We're not going to risk anything with him but he will be in the building next season and he's also shown promising things so those are also things to take into account. We have Zak Lovelace who is also somebody who was out injured, I haven't seen him yet live with me but I saw him before and he's also somebody with a bright future. You can have maybe six or seven strikers but you cannot play them all so that's things to take into account.

How close is Zak Lovelace to returning?

He’s been three months out so he needs to first make steps with the second team to have training there, adapt to the rhythm and then play games with them. Then the next step is to have more training sessions with us in moments with us and the second team. Like Bailey Rice, Johnly Yfeko, Cole McKinnon, Robbie Fraser. To adapt and make steps - that’s the next step for Zak to make.

Will Jose Cifuentes leave the club?

I don’t know. There is interest. Cifu is also interested but there is no deal yet so we will see. He has a terrific mentality and we know if he doesn’t make this step we can count on him. We will see.

Do you know your European squad?

I had discussions with players about that this afternoon because I am not happy with the rule. The rule is the rule for all the teams and I understand the idea. I was not totally aligned with how the European list started at the beginning of the season. It was also what it is. I can only make three changes. That will create a few players I wanted on the list cannot be. That’s a reality.

Will you keep injured players on the list?

There’s not much to think about if you have only three positions to change. If you think logically you will see the logic.

READ MORE: Rangers have signed exciting players, but I fear no No.9 is history repeating - 4Lads

Are you happier with the balance of the squad?

We see more and more players fit. A fight for each position that’s what you want as a manager. It gives you a headache to make choices. We know we have a lot of games. The next six weeks until the international window we have five out of six three games a week. It will be a really intense period where I need rotation. I am going to do that so I need everyone ready for that and give minutes for that. That is the case tomorrow. To get players on the pitch who came out of injury. That’s still the story in the minds of a lot of people behind us but in a way it’s still there. These players don’t have game rhythm so I need to give it to them next to the training. We are still busy with that.

5 of the next 6 at homes - a chance to build momentum?

I don’t see home games as an opportunity I want to win them all let’s be very clear about that. I want to win away games also. It’s nice to play at Ibrox it is mythical, gives me goosebumps every time so in that way I love it but I want to also win at St Mirren. It’s all about winning all the games. No difference at home. The pitch will be better which helps for the football we want to play. The rest is to keep pushing as a team and for me to puzzle every time, to get every player on the field 100% to go 100% every second he is on the pitch.

How long is Kemar Roofe out for?

I don’t know yet. I expect him to be back somewhere in this season.

Did you have an offer for Jack Butland?

Nobody called me. But they don’t call me about these things. It’s not important, another positive point is that in January in general there were players who could go somewhere else and make a new step to interesting competitions and teams but they wanted to stay. So I think it’s also a big evolution for sure three months ago they wanted to leave. They feel they are in a good story and can do something special together. In that way, I am really happy about this January also. Sometimes players use every emotional reason why they want to go. It was the opposite because there were a few offers but the players said I want to stay at Rangers.

Two new arrivals available for selection tomorrow?

On paper yes. We need to look at what they’ve done. Oscar played on 27 January for 88 minutes and was training all the time so he is fitter. Dio played his last game in November and had a winter break. With Dio we will first work a bit to bring him in good conditions on the pitch. We know everyone has big expectations of new players so we need to put them on the pitch when they are ready.