It is fair to say that there was a fair bit of excitement among supporters when Glasgow Rangers finally confirmed the signing of Djeidi Gassama on a permanent deal earlier this month.
The Light Blues swooped to sign him from Sheffield Wednesday to bolster Russell Martin’s options at the top end of the pitch, and he was an exciting addition off the back of his form last term.
Gassama scored seven goals and created three ‘big chances’ in the Championship for Sheffield Wednesday, despite them not being in contention to gain promotion from the division.
He ranked within the top 14% of his positional peers in the league for goals (seven) and in the top 23% for chances created (38), which shows that he excelled as both a scorer and a creator of goals from the left wing.
These statistics show why fans were so excited to see him in action for the first time when Panathinaikos arrived at Ibrox for the first leg of the second round Champions League qualifier on Tuesday night.
How Djeidi Gassama could be a success for Rangers this season
The 21-year-old forward came on for the last 15 minutes of the win over the Greek side and immediately showed that supporters were right to be excited by the prospect of seeing him play in the flesh.
Gassama made an almost instant impact by cutting in from the left flank to fire a brilliant shot past Dragowski to put Rangers 2-0 up on the night.
That particular was not his only impressive contribution off the bench, though, as the winger also played a beautiful pass with the outside of his foot to send Nicolas Raskin through in the left channel, but the Belgian midfielder was unable to create a chance out of it.
| Vs Panathinaikos | Djeidi Gassama |
|---|---|
| Minutes played | 15 |
| Shots | 1 |
| Goals | 1 |
| Dribbles completed | 2/2 |
| Possession lost | 3x |
| Pass accuracy | 80% |
| Duel success rate | 100% |
| Stats via Sofascore | |
As you can see in the table above, Gassama completed two dribbles, won all of his duels, and scored with his only shot in just 15 minutes of football off the bench for the Light Blues on Tuesday.
He could be a huge success for the Scottish giants this season as a direct and skillful left winger who can cut inside onto his favoured right foot to deliver goals, and hopefully assists, on a regular basis.
Gassama is currently valued at £1.7m by Transfermarkt and the Light Blues reportedly agreed a fee in the region of £2.2m to sign him from Sheffield Wednesday, which shows that he is not a mega-money signing.
However, at the age of 21, the French starlet could develop into a mega-money player for Rangers if he can start to produce quality in the final third on a regular basis.
Although he did not feature against Panathinaikos, Jefte could play a key role in Gassama’s development as a potential left-back option to play behind him on the left flank.
Rangers have hit the jackpot with the talented young Brazilian defender, who has had one season at Ibrox so far, and he could be a future star for the club alongside Gassama.
Rangers have hit the jackpot with Jefte
Jefte signed for the Scottish giants from Fluminense on a permanent deal in the summer of 2024, and Transfermarkt valued the youngster at a price of just £693k at the time of the move.
Then 20 years old, the full-back came over to Scotland in a team with high expectations and had a fairly inconsistent first season at the club, which should be expected given the circumstances, with his age and lack of experience in the country.
Writer Kai Watson described the left-footed ace as a “polarising figure” among the fanbase, and that may be because of his inconsistency on the pitch, as some fans may not want to be as patient with players as others.
However, Rangers do have a very exciting talent on their hands, despite Max Aarons being picked ahead of him on Tuesday, as his performances were good enough to attract interest from Premier League giants, and now world champions, Chelsea in January.
As you can see in the post from journalist Chris Jack above, Chelsea went as far as to make contact with the player’s agents at the start of this year to discuss a possible move, which illustrates how impressive his form for Rangers had been up to that point.
Jefte made 52 appearances in all competitions in the 2024/25 campaign, which was vital learning for the 21-year-old talent, and he will now be hoping to kick on this season.
| 24/25 Premiership | Jefte per 90 | Percentile rank vs full-backs |
|---|---|---|
| xA | 3.27 | Top 20% |
| Assists | 4 | Top 20% |
| Cross accuracy | 28% | Top 23% |
| Tackles won | 42 | Top 9% |
| Interceptions | 45 | Top 12% |
| Recoveries | 131 | Top 14% |
| Duels won | 183 | Top 12% |
| Stats via FotMob | ||
As you can see in the table above, the Brazilian whiz ranked highly in a host of key defensive and offensive metrics in the Scottish Premiership, particularly when it came to making tackles and interceptions.
His form for Rangers led to his Transfermarkt value soaring up to £3.4m at the time of writing, which means that his valuation has jumped up by a whopping 391% and is now above Gassama’s £1.7m valuation.
This suggests that the Light Blues have hit the jackpot with the young defender because they picked him up at a fairly low value, of under £1m, last summer, and he has already soared in value to become a multi-million pound asset for the club.
At the age of 21, and with clubs like Chelsea eyeing him up, Jefte may only get better from here if Martin can work with him on the training pitch to improve and develop in the months and years to come.
