Glasgow Rangers progressed through to the next round of qualifying for the league phase of the Champions League with an aggregate win over Panathinaikos earlier this week.
The Light Blues won 2-0 in the first leg at Ibrox last week before they travelled to Greece to secure a 1-1 draw, winning the tie 3-1 on aggregate to book a meeting with Viktoria Plzen later this month.
Djeidi Gassama scored in both legs, firing in the equaliser on Wednesday night, and has made an incredibly impressive start to life with the Scottish Premiership giants.
Not all of the club’s new signings have hit the ground running under Russell Martin, though, as Thelo Aasgaard has been missing through injury and Emmanuel Fernandez is yet to feature.
Joe Rothwell has provided a calming and assured presence at the base of the midfield for the Gers, having signed from Bournemouth on a permanent deal, but the club’s other signing from the Cherries has not had as much luck.
Martin brought Aarons, whom he trained with as a player during their time together at Norwich City, on loan from the Premier League side and has played him at left-back in the last two games.
How the Max Aarons experiment has gone
It is fair to say that the English defender has looked uncomfortable in his first two competitive outings in a Rangers shirt, playing on the opposite side to the one he is used to playing.
Aarons had only started nine times as a left-back in his club career, including youth level, before the two games against Panathinaikos, compared to 258 starts as a right-back, and his lack of experience in that role was evident in his performances.
All too often, the former Norwich defender seemed confused as to where to position himself or how to shape his body to defend balls over the top or through balls to stop wingers from getting in behind, or to stop players from taking the ball off him.
It was almost very costly in the second leg when he failed to deal with a through ball and fell over trying to shield it from the attacker, but he was bailed out by a brilliant one-versus-one save by Jack Butland.
Minutes played
90
17
Tackles + interceptions
1
2
Ground duel success rate
83%
100%
Pass accuracy
89%
100%
Dribbled past
0x
0x
Error led to shot
1
0
Crosses attempted
0
2
As you can see in the table above, Jefte offered more in 17 minutes, as a naturally left-footed player, than Aarons did in 90 minutes in Greece on Wednesday night, as he attempted more crosses and made more tackles and interceptions combined.
The Brazilian’s cameo highlighted the benefits of having a left-footed left-back who is comfortable in that role, which is why the Aarons experiment could be ended by the club’s interest in another left-back.
Rangers in the race to sign new left-back
According to Foot Mercato, Rangers are one of a number of sides eyeing up a potential deal to sign AS Monaco full-back Kassoum Ouattara this summer.
The report claims that the Light Blues have made contact with the player’s representatives to discuss a potential transfer to Ibrox, but they are not the only team to have done that.
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Celtic, Augsburg, Toulouse, PSV, and Metz have all also had a touchpoint with his agent, as they all compete to land his signature for the 2025/26 campaign, and potentially beyond.
Foot Mercato adds that Monaco are not looking to loan the defender out, though, as they would prefer to cash in on the player to sell him permanently.
However, the report does not state how much they would want in return, or whether or not Rangers would be willing to do a permanent deal for him.
Why Rangers should sign Kassoum Ouattara
The Scottish giants should push to win the race for the 20-year-old left-back in the coming days and weeks because he would end the Max Aarons experiment.
Ouattara is a naturally left-footed left-back who could slot into the side on the left to compete with Jefte for a starting spot, allowing the English full-back to compete with James Tavernier at right-back.
This would mean that Martin would not have to play Aarons out of position, to the detriment of the team, on his weaker foot, as he would have another potentially quality option to call upon on the left flank.
Ouattara, who scored against Torino in pre-season earlier this week, is still finding his way in first-team football, at the age of 20, but he has shown a lot of promise in his short career to date.
The France U20 international played 12 times and started five matches in Ligue 1 for Monaco in the 2024/25 campaign, and caught the eye with his attacking contributions, as he is a left-footed player who can bomb on down the left to create chances for his side.
xA
0.29
Top 5%
Chances created
1.38
Top 17%
Successful crosses
1.62
Top 7%
Cross accuracy
41.2%
Top 9%
Successful dribbles
1.15
Top 12%
Assists
0.23
Top 9%
As you can see in the table above, Ouatarra thrived as an attacking force down the left flank for Monaco in the French top-flight, ranking highly among his positional peers in a host of creative statistics.
This suggests that he has the potential to be a huge offensive weapon for Martin on the left if he hands him the chance to play regular first-team football, starting week-in-week-out in the Premiership.
Ouatarra, who has been described as a “very offensive” full-back by writer Kai Watson, also showcased the defensive side of his game in Ligue 2 with Amiens in the 2023/24 campaign.
The 20-year-old talent averaged 3.3 tackles and interceptions per game, whilst Aarons made just one on Wednesday night, and helped his team keep four clean sheets in ten appearances in the division.
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These statistics suggest that he has the potential to be a well-rounded left-back who can offer quality offensively and defensively, which is why Ouattara could come in to end the Aarons experiment by arriving as a starting-calibre, natural, left-back option for the manager.