A Centre-Half Pairing That Actually Makes Sense

There’s a clear appeal in a Doekhi and Fernandez partnership: goals from the back, presence in both boxes, and a bit of authority. The catch, as always, is whether Rangers can meet the wages and the timing.

The idea of Rangers building around a proper centre-half pairing is one that always gets the support going, especially when it’s not just about defending but adding something at the other end too. The shout here is a Doekhi and Fernandez partnership, and you can see the thinking: two big defenders who can hurt teams at set pieces, while still giving you that platform to play.

Goals from centre-half: it’s not a gimmick

When centre-backs are chipping in regularly, it changes how teams set up against you. Corners and free-kicks stop feeling like a hopeful punt and start looking like a repeatable weapon. The claim is that Doekhi and Fernandez are joint top-scoring centre-backs in Europe right now, with Fernandez expected to finish the season as the highest-scoring one.

Even taking that at face value, the broader point stands: Rangers have spent enough seasons watching sides sit in and survive waves of possession. You need different ways to win games in Scotland, and a centre-half who attacks the ball like a striker is one of the simplest solutions going. If Fernandez is genuinely the type who can score a hat-trick of headers, that’s not just a fun anecdote, it’s a profile Rangers fans would bite your hand off for.

The money side is always the sticking point

This is where it gets a bit more real-world. The post suggests Fernandez could be worth 10 to 15 million by season’s end, and that paying 3.2 million would look a bargain. Likewise with Doekhi, you’re talking about a player valued well into eight figures, but the wage level mentioned is 55k a week before bonuses at Union Berlin.

That’s the Rangers dilemma in a sentence. We can sometimes stretch for a fee if the stars align, but big wages are the long-term handcuffs. If you’re paying top-end salaries, you need absolute certainty you’re getting a leader, an ever-present, and someone who lifts the whole back line. Otherwise it’s how squads get clogged.

Development paths matter, even if they don’t guarantee anything

The Ajax thread is interesting too. Doekhi coming through the system, moving on, and then building himself back up is a familiar story. Not everyone makes it in the first team at a giant club, but the education tends to show later. Add in the Bogarde family connection and you can understand why folk talk about “mentoring” and standards. It doesn’t win you points by itself, but it often tells you a player has been around elite expectations.

And then there’s the comparison with Danilo. The view here is simple: if you could swap Rangers’ Danilo for Union Berlin’s Danilho, you’d do it today. Harsh? Maybe. But it’s also the kind of ruthless squad talk Rangers have to be comfortable with if the aim is to build a team that dominates domestically and looks credible in Europe.

Written by LAUDRUPHAGI: 19 January 2026