Rangers Target Badredine Bouanani on Loan from VfB Stuttgart
Rangers are closing in on Badredine Bouanani, with the Algerian winger understood to be undergoing a medical ahead of a season-long loan from VfB Stuttgart that includes an €18m option to buy. With the transfer window ticking into its final hours, only a late hitch is expected to delay an official announcement.
From Lille Prodigy to Bundesliga Project
Born in Lille, the 21-year-old came through the academy at LOSC Lille, breaking into their reserve side during the 2021-22 season. He represented France across several youth levels before switching allegiance to Algeria in 2023, collecting five senior caps so far.
Bouanani walked away from his boyhood club on a Bosman, joining Ligue 1 rivals Nice. He initially dipped in and out of the youth and first-team setups, picking up sporadic top-flight minutes before a loan move to Lorient. The 2024-25 campaign finally gave him a more regular platform in France, and that rise persuaded Stuttgart to pay around €15m for him last summer.
Germany has not yet brought the explosion many expected. Bouanani made 28 appearances across competitions for Stuttgart but mostly from the bench, returning just two goals and two assists. For a player built to run at defenders and dictate one-on-one duels, those numbers underline a simple truth: he needs a stage, and he needs minutes.
Why Rangers Need Him Now
That stage could be Ibrox. Rangers, who have already added Daisuke Yokota, have been scouring the market for another left-footed forward who prefers operating from the right. Their interest has been framed against rumours around Brighton & Hove Albion youngster Amario Cozier-Duberry, but Bouanani is the one now on the brink.
The context is stark. Derek McInnes has endured a nightmare in Europe, with Rangers crashing out of both the Europa League and Conference League qualifiers. The season is now a domestic slog, and Celtic have already opened up a five-point lead in the Premiership after winning every league game so far.
Rangers have steadied themselves with back-to-back victories over Aberdeen and Falkirk, yet the performances have not fully convinced. The attack still looks short on invention. Lawrence Shankland has rediscovered his touch in front of goal, but neither Findlay Curtis nor Yokota has made the right flank their own.
That is where Bouanani fits the puzzle.
Direct Threat, Added Spark
Bouanani brings explosive acceleration and sharp close control, the kind of winger who relishes tight pockets of space rather than shies away from them. He drives at full-backs, shifts his weight quickly, and forces defenders into decisions they do not want to make.
His trademark is simple but effective: receive wide on the right, cut inside onto his left, or combine with overlapping runs before whipping crosses into the box. That blend of cut-insides, overlapping deliveries and composure in the final third would add a different dimension to McInnes’ attack, one that Rangers have lacked on a consistent basis.
The move also dovetails neatly with the reshaping of the squad. The club have allowed Thelo Aasgaard to leave on loan for Anderlecht after bringing in Kim Min-Su. The South Korean has been used as a ‘number 10’ but can also operate from the left. Bouanani, comfortable drifting centrally as well as starting wide, would give McInnes even more flexibility behind the lone ‘number 9’ in his 4-2-3-1 system.
For Stuttgart, it is a chance to develop a significant investment without freezing him on the bench. For Bouanani, it is a route to regular football and a platform to protect his place with Algeria. For Rangers, it is a calculated gamble on a high-ceiling winger at a time when their season already feels like it is balancing on a knife edge.
