Rangers struck gold with Filip Helander signing | OneFootball

Rangers have not been shy when it comes to dipping into the transfer market and bringing new players to Ibrox who they feeel can improve and strengthen their team wherever possible over the past few years.

As tends to be the case with all clubs, not all transfers end up being particularly successful. However, one deal at Ibrox which can be seen as a rewarding one for the club is their move for Filip Helander.

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Who did Rangers beat in their first game of 2021?

Celtic Aberdeen St Mirren Ross County

The Gers signed the centre-back from Bologna during the 2019 summer transfer window. Since then, the 28-year-old has gone on to make 57 appearances across all competitions, chipping in with seven goals and one assist along the way, a decent return for a centre-back.

Last season saw the Sweden international, who was praised for his “outstanding” positional play by former Rangers boss Steven Gerrard, make 31 appearances across all competitions, with 21 of those coming in the Premiership.

In those league appearances, Helander averaged 1.7 tackles (the second-highest of any player in the squad) and 2.2 clearances per game, putting him in the top three for that statistic. Those returns highlight how important he was in the club’s title charge from a defensive point of view.

Shortly after making the move to Glasgow from Italy, Transfermarkt had the defender’s market value listed at £1.8m. It now stands at £3.15m, showing an increase of 75%, which you’d imagine is largely down to his efforts last season. This also shows what a great bit of business it was from the club to bring him to Ibrox.

Has Filip Helander been a good signing for Rangers?

Unfortunately, the centre-back hasn’t had much luck this season after picking up a serious knee injury back in September which has kept him sidelined until recently.

If the defender can maintain his fitness for the remainder of the campaign and get back to the sort of form he showed in Rangers’ title-winning season, he could have a big part to play in their chase to retain the Premiership title this time around.