Max Dowman
Max Dowman
Glasgow Rangers manager Derek McInnes and the recruitment team already have one eye on the January transfer window, despite it still being October.
It was recently revealed that the Scottish Premiership giants are one of a number of clubs in the race to sign Arsenal winger Max Dowman on loan at the start of 2027.
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The Premier League giants are weighing up whether or not to send the England youth international out on loan for the second half of the season, and the Gers are one of the sides hoping to bring him in.
Dowman turns 17 in December and will be eligible to sign a professional contract with the Gunners, which will then allow him to head out on loan in January.
Why Rangers may avoid a deal for Max Dowman
The 16-year-old forward is an undeniably exciting young talent who would be an interesting addition to the squad, given that he became the youngest goalscorer in Premier League history against Everton last season.
Dowman also scored 20 goals and provided ten assists in 25 matches for Arsenal's U18s before his first-team breakthrough, which suggests that he could arrive at Ibrox to provide a big threat at the top end of the pitch.
However, signing the English youngster on loan would mean that the club would only be kicking the can down the road because they would then need to replace him at the end of the season, as they would not have the chance to sign him permanently from the Gunners.
||
|Attackers signed on loan by Rangers|
|Season|Player|
|---|
|26/27|Badredine Bouanani|
|25/26|Mikey Moore|
|25/26|Andreas Skov Olsen|
|24/25|Vaclav Cerny|
|23/24|Fabio Silva|
|23/24|Abdallah Sima|
|22/23|Malik Tillman|
|21/22|Amad Diallo|
Prior to Badredine Bouanani's arrival this summer on loan, the Light Blues had not signed any of the previous seven loanee attackers since Amad Diallo joined in the 2021/22 campaign.
amad-diallo-rangers-premiership
Rangers should, therefore, be looking for a more permanent solution to their problems in the final third, so that they do not have to constantly look for a new star attacker in every window.
Rangers already have their own Max Dowman
The Light Blues did attempt to solve their problem by spending £8.5m on the signing of Min-su Kim from Girona in the recent summer window, but he has not had the best of starts at Ibrox.
min-su-kim-rangers-celtic (2)
min-su-kim-rangers-celtic (2)
He has had plenty of nice touches and exciting moments, averaging 2.2 dribbles per game, but the Rangers number ten has yet to deliver a goal or an assist in six Premiership outings.
McInnes may not need to dip into the transfer market to sign Dowman to replace Kim, though, because there is an academy prospect who has the potential to break into the first-team and grab the number ten shirt from the South Korean talent.
In the summer of 2025, the Scottish giants swooped to sign teenage winger Zebadee Lawson from Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion on a permanent deal.
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Head of academy scouting James Fowler noted that the forward had "huge potential" at the time, and he has already shown flashes of that in his 14 months or so at Ibrox.
The 17-year-old made his debut in the 5-0 win over Annan in the SFA Cup in January, before he made his Premiership debut against Falkirk in May, taking one shot and completing both of his attempted passes in ten minutes on the pitch.
Lawson is currently on loan at Queen's Park FC in the Championship, as part of a deal that also allows him to play for Rangers B, and has delivered one goal and two assists in eight appearances in all competitions this season.
The teenage talent produced his first senior assist in a 3-1 win over Queen of the South for Queen's Park in the League Cup back in August, showing that he can step up in a first-team setting.
Lawson is a left-footed winger who predominantly plays on the right side of the attack, cutting in on his favoured foot, and could emerge as a contender to take Kim's place in that position for McInnes' side.
Whether he comes back to Ibrox in January or is brought back into the fold at the end of the season, the former Brighton youngster could be the club's own version of Dowman, which means that the Gers do not need to compete for his signature in January.
max-dowman-arsenal-southampton
Lawson is a teenage forward, like the Arsenal youngster, who plays in the same position and with a similar style, and the Light Blues should prioritise giving him chances to shine instead of bringing in a short-term solution to develop another club's player.
If given the chance to develop and shine at Ibrox, the 17-year-old youngster could break through and eventually take Kim's number ten shirt from him, if the 20-year-old talent continues to struggle in front of goal.
Nicolas-Raskin-Glasgow-Rangers