Johnny McFarlane has urged Rangers to sign loanee Abdallah Sima from Brighton despite question marks over where the club would find the funds.

Speaking on the Rangers Review YouTube channel on Thursday (11 January), the Herland journalist said the Gers should “absolutely” look to retain the Senegalese international even if a deal would cost them between £7million and £8million as he could be worth “a lot more than that” in the future.

He added that the 22-year-old winger has been a “terrific” signing during his season-long loan from the Premier League club, but he added that he isn’t sure where the Light Blues would source the money from to facilitate the deal.

“You would imagine if Rangers can complete a deal to retain him, you would absolutely do that, even if the cost was £7million to £8million I think you would want to secure him because he looks like he’s worth potentially a lot more than that in the years ahead if you were able to secure him on a five-year contract,” said McFarlane.

“That would be extremely expensive for Rangers and I don’t know quite where they would find that money from, but that’s the level of impact that he’s had to score 15 goals.

“To do that from the left wing, that’s what Rangers have been crying out for in the past five seasons in terms of matching the output that Celtic’s wingers deliver, that’s what he’s done. A terrific signing and someone you would want to keep around for sure.”

Make it happen

There will almost certainly be talks ongoing behind the scenes at Rangers to see how they can raise the funds to sign Sima before his loan deal runs out.

He has been in absolutely sensational form since signing from Brighton, having scored 15 goals and laid on two assists in 33 appearances this season.

But the Premier League side aren’t going to let him go on the cheap, so the Gers are going to have to show some ambition if they want to land him.

There’s a chance, though, that the Seagulls manager Roberto De Zerbi could even decide that he wants to take a look at him next season, potentially ruining the Light Blues’ plans to bring him in on a permanent deal.

If they can persuade the Senegalese that his future could be better off served at Ibrox, then that would massively improve their chances of securing his services beyond this campaign.