It took Glasgow Rangers a few weeks, but they eventually ended the January transfer window by securing the signings of two talented midfielders who could become the bedrock for a new and improved team at Ibrox ahead of next season.
However, despite the arrivals of Todd Cantwell and Nicolas Raskin, some of the Ibrox faithful may have been left underwhelmed that only two deals were completed, with the first-team perhaps needing another forward option and potentially another defender to improve squad depth.
Michael Beale could face a mass exodus in the summer, with several first-team players out of contract. Alfredo Morelos is one of those and his future remains uncertain at Ibrox, which could make missing out on a striker in January quite a big mistake.
The club were linked with a move for Ghanaian striker Antoine Semenyo before the transfer window opened, but he chose to join Premier League club Bournemouth for a fee of £10.5m, and the Light Blues certainly missed a trick over the player.
Will Alfredo Morelos sign a new contract at Rangers?
The next few months promise to not just be nervy on the pitch, with the chance of securing two domestic trophies on the line, but also surrounding off-field matters such as whether or not Morelos will commit his future to the club.
Having netted 121 goals so far in his Rangers career, the Colombian has become a fan favourite. He has looked rejuvenated under Beale, scoring six times in 12 matches since Giovanni van Bronckhorst was replaced and perhaps underlining why he ought to be offered a new deal.
There has to be some contingency plan, however, with the likelihood that Morelos will leave the club sooner rather than later, and Semenyo could have been the perfect heir.
The Cherries forward has scored seven goals and grabbed two assists this season, and his form early on in the campaign secured him a place in Ghana’s squad for the World Cup, proving just how talented he is.
He scored his first goal for Ghana in a pre-tournament friendly in November, and although he played for just 27 minutes in Qatar, the experience will have stood him in good stead going forward.
Across his 23 Championship appearances for Bristol City, the 23-year-old not only scored six times but also took 1.7 shots per game, created five big chances and succeeded with 56% of his dribble attempts. He showed that he could be a real handful for opposition defenders and is very much in a similar mould to the powerful Morelos in terms of playing style.
Semenyo’s former Bristol City manager Nigel Pearson sang his praises last year, saying: “He is a real threat with his power and pace – he must be a nightmare to play against! His challenge now is to keep developing and adding elements to his game to make him even more effective.”
Depending on how well the Ghanaian does in the Premier League, missing out on the 22-year-old could well be a huge mistake by Beale, and he could’ve certainly become the ideal heir for Morelos had he come to Ibrox rather than joining Bournemouth.