Rangers have clinched the signing of defender Ridvan Yilmaz from Besiktas as they continue their summer spending spree. The Turkish international full back becomes the seventh summer arrival for Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
The Ibrox club agreed a deal for the 21-year-old reported to be in the region of £5.5 million - and Yilmaz has now signed a five-year contract. The defender has five full caps for Turkey and played 33 times for Super Lig side Besiktas across all competitions last season.
Van Bronckhorst moved quickly to land Yilmaz after losing Calvin Bassey for an initial record fee of £19.5 million to Ajax. Yilmaz will compete with Borna Barisic for the left back spot while Ben Davies was also signed from Liverpool and can fill the central defensive void left by the versatile Bassey, while also being able to play at left back.
Yilmaz told the Rangers website: “I am delighted to be joining a club the size of Rangers and am really looking forward to meeting my new teammates. This is a club who have shown they can compete against some of the best teams in Europe, and I am really excited by the challenges we have ahead of us I have heard so much too about the Rangers supporters and I cannot wait to play in front of them for the first time."
The highly-rated Turk follows Antonio Colak, Tom Lawrence, Malik Tillman, John Souttar, Rabbi Matondo and Davies in arriving this summer. Manager Van Bronckhorst added: “I am really pleased to have added Ridvan to our squad and I believe he will bring a lot of quality to the club.
"I have been really impressed with his development in a really demanding, winning environment at Besiktas over the last few seasons. I am looking forward to welcoming him to training in the coming days and to seeing him in action for the first time."
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