GIOVANNI van Bronckhorst has dismissed the prospect of Ridvan Yilmaz leaving Rangers on loan and revealed the Turkish left back is finally ready to feature for his side on a regular basis.
Yilmaz has only made two starts and four first team appearances in total for the Ibrox club since being signed from Besiktas in his homeland for £3.4m back in July.
The six times capped 21-year-old has this month been linked with temporary switches to Galatasaray and Trabzonspor in his homeland in January.
However, Van Bronckhorst yesterday stated the defender has made good progress in training, is in contention to feature in the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final against Dundee in Govan tonight and will not be leaving Glasgow.
“I am happy with his development,” he said. “When he came he had to adapt to a new team, to living abroad. He is still young so it takes a little bit more time for him to be comfortable.
“But you can see a difference between the Ridvan who came and the Ridvan at the moment. For me, he is in a much better place.
“That is why we gave him minutes in the game against St Mirren this month because he is doing well. He will continue his development and he is probably much closer to playing in the first team at the moment.”
Van Bronckhorst added: “How many players do you see who sign for £70m or £80m who take time to adapt to their clubs? Every time we have players who need time to adapt it seems to be considered a problem. It is not a problem.
“It is just the way we have to deal with different circumstances. That is very important. For him, it is different to Tom Lawrence or Rabbi Matondo. They are used to living in the UK so it is no problem for them.
“For him, it is a really big step. He needs to adapt to his new team mates, to a new playing style, new tactics. But, as I said, he is much closer now to playing and to starting than he was a couple of months ago. So for me there is no debate about loaning him out or anything. Nothing.”
Borna Barisic has been Van Bronckhorst’s first choice left back at home and abroad in the 2022/23 campaign – but the Dutchman believes Yilmaz will feature far more going forward.
“We are continuing developing all our players,” he said. “Every player is different. For a player who is playing a lot it is more about going over the game and looking at what things they can improve in the game.
“For Ridvan it is different. It is more about making sure he understands the tactics and knows where to be in certain moments. For him, that’s important.
“He didn’t speak good English when he came. He is improving that so he is able to communicate now with his team mates. That is something you have to take into account as well before we let him play.”
Asked if he would start against Championship club Dundee at Ibrox this evening, Van Bronckhorst said: “Yeah, he is close. I can start him no problems.”
Elsewhere, Van Bronckhorst stressed that Rangers captain James Tavernier is fully fit and revealed that Kemar Roofe, who has not played this season, will be in the squad for the cup game against Dundee.
He also stated that Alex Lowry, who suffered an injury in a game against Dumbarton in August, had played for the B team.
