Philippe Clement believes revamped Rangers have ‘quality to challenge’ Celtic

Rangers manager Philippe Clement believes his “young and exciting” squad can challenge Celtic’s established side on Sunday despite admitting his “massive rebuild” could not be completed in one transfer window.

Clement added to his squad with deadline-day signings Nedim Bajrami and Neraysho Kasanwirjo and claimed the narrative around his side had been overly negative.

The Belgian feels many underestimated the scale of the club’s task over the summer, with six players leaving for free at the end of their contracts following similar departures of Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent the previous year.

“It’s been really busy months and weeks,” he said. “I spoke about that at the end of last season, that it was the end of a cycle at the club. I don’t think everybody realised truly what I was talking about.

“The squad had a lot players over 30 who would not progress any more, you had players at the end of their contract who were going to leave.

“We have 16 players from the squad of last season who are not here anymore and there is still a possibility from players who are not training with the squad that they will still leave the club now. So that is a lot, that is for sure the end of a cycle and we also had to make changes in the staff. It’s a massive rebuild.”

Clement spoke about a four-layered approach to the rebuild: signing experienced players such as Vaclav Cerny, Robin Propper and Bajrami; “high-potential” young players who could make an immediate impact such as Connor Barron and Jefte; “young potentials” who are there for long-term benefit; and giving more chances to academy players.

He added: “Of course the more money that comes into a club, the more money you can spend. So that’s been not much because of the legacy of the past and the contracts of the past.

“So we had to work like that and we knew. And it’s important to use that word ‘we’. That means the board, me, recruitment. We knew it would take time and it would not probably be possible in one transfer window, although everybody made the biggest efforts to do as much in this window.

“There’s a lot of things done already but it’s not only short term, it’s long term. If we went short term it would have cost more money and that was not possible And we need to create value for the future.

“I believe everyone together found young, exciting talent and it’s about now working hard to develop them while keeping an experienced core that can guide them on and off the pitch.”

Clement feels a 6-0 win over Ross County at temporary home Hampden last weekend suggests many have been too pessimistic about their chances.

“I think because of a lot of situations there’s been a negative perception around the club, the stadium, elimination from the Champions League,” he said.

“People forget what is going well. Last week we won 6-0 and it could have been more than six. So it’s not all bad.

“This is an exciting project and an exciting squad now. It’s not the finished article and I know we are going play against a team with a lot of experience who have played for a long time together.

“We are the young, exciting team who want to challenge that now. But I believe we also have the quality to challenge that and go full out for the three points.”

Albania midfielder Bajrami will not be fully registered in time to face Celtic, while versatile on-loan Feyenoord defender Kasanwirjo is unlikely to feature after only one training session. But Clement has a fully-fit squad other than Ridvan Yilmaz.