It’s one of those Rangers talking points that won’t go away quickly: should we have pushed harder to sign Sima permanently, rather than ending up looking elsewhere for that forward option?
When he was at Ibrox on loan, plenty of fans saw more in him than a wide player. He wasn’t just a winger who hugged the touchline. He attacked space, he didn’t mind contact, and he had that fearless streak you want in a centre-forward when the game is getting scrappy and you need somebody to take responsibility.
More than a left winger
For me, Sima always had the look of a player who could drift across the front line and still hurt teams. The best wide forwards in Scotland aren’t really “wingers” in the old sense anyway, they’re attackers who start outside and finish inside. That’s why the idea of him as a number nine made sense.
He had the tools for it: enough pace to threaten in behind, enough bravery to go into the box, and the kind of movement that pulls defenders into decisions they don’t want to make. In domestic games where Rangers are camped in the opposition half, that matters. You need someone who can find a yard, attack the near post one minute, then peel off into the channel the next.
The price and the frustration
Seeing Lens land him for a fee reported around the £4.5m mark naturally stings a bit. Not because Rangers should be throwing money about, but because that number feels like it lived in the “maybe doable” bracket if the will was there and the circumstances lined up.
That’s the bit that leaves supporters guessing. Did Rangers never go in with something concrete once he was no longer here? Or did Brighton simply have their own ideas about when, and for what, they’d sell? Unless you’re in the room, you’re left filling in the blanks.
Why a settled home might suit him
The other angle is the player himself. Being moved on season after season is brutal for development. Rhythm matters, confidence matters, and so does having a manager who’s actually building with you in mind rather than treating you like a short-term solution.
At 24, he’s still at a good age to kick on, and you can see why a proper long-term home appeals. Lens isn’t a million miles away from Glasgow in climate or in the type of intensity you get in the stands, and he’s already been shaped by football outside the glamour leagues. If he gets a run, he could yet become the player many Rangers fans hoped we were seeing the early version of.
And that’s the real frustration: it feels like one that got away, not because he was perfect, but because the fit looked there.
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