Glasgow Rangers dropped points for the second time in as many Scottish Premiership matches with a 1-1 draw at Ibrox against Dundee on Saturday.
The Light Blues were held to a 1-1 draw by Motherwell on the opening day of the league campaign, and now have two points to show after two games and are already four points off the top of the table.
Russell Martin Rangers unveiling
Russell Martin will not be happy with the way his team have started the season, and may want more signings to bolster his squad before the end of the summer transfer window to ensure that they are in the best place to kick on and get more points on the board.
Rangers closing in on new defender
The Light Blues are putting plenty of work in behind the scenes to add to the manager's options across the park, and are reportedly on course to bring in a new defender.
According to Rangers Review, as relayed by IbroxNews, the Scottish giants are closing in on a deal to sign Real Betis centre-back Nobel Mendy for a fee of £2m.
The report claims that the 20-year-old defender, who typically plays on the left side of the defence, has his heart set on a move to Ibrox, which now appears to be coming to fruition.
russell-martin-rangers
It adds that the left-footed defender is poised to put pen to paper on a four-year contract at Ibrox, with an option to extend by a further year, and that his arrival will mean that Ben Davies, Clinton Nsiala, and Leon King are all free to move on.
Why Mendy could be a good signing for Rangers
The Real Betis youngster, who spent most of last season with the B team, could be a shrewd addition to the squad as a talented young player who needs regular game time, much like when the club plucked Mikel Arteta away from Barcelona B.
Back in 2002, the Light Blues signed the Spanish midfielder from Barcelona B after he failed to make a single first-team appearance for the Catalan giants, although he did have two loan spells at PSG.
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Arteta failed to make the breakthrough in the first-team in Spain, but then went on to score 14 goals in 65 games for Rangers. He also won the domestic treble in his first year at the club, per Transfermarkt.
This shows that the Spaniard, who moved to Real Sociedad in 2004 before going on to play for Everton and Arsenal most notably, was a big success with what he achieved at Ibrox despite arriving as a player from a B team in Spain.
Nobel Mendy (24/25 league season) Real Betis Real Betis B
Appearances 2 13
Starts 1 12
Pass accuracy 87% 85%
Ball recoveries per game 3.5 7.9
Clearances per game 4.5 2.0
Duel success rate 100% 41%
Stats via Sofascore
As you can see in the table above, Mendy spent the majority of last season with Real Betis B, starting just one match in LaLiga, which shows that he did not quite make the grade there.
His failure to make a breakthrough as a regular starter for Real Betis does not mean that he is a bad player, though, as evidenced by the success that Arteta had at Ibrox after his move from Barcelona B.
Rangers manager Russell Martin applauds fans after the match
Writer and analyst Kai Watson described Mendy as a "powerful" player with "athletic" qualities, similar to Nasser Djiga, which makes it seem like the Gers are signing a mobile and combative young central defender.
However, it is hard to make predictions on how he will perform for the Gers because, as aforementioned, the majority of his performances have come at B team level, and it remains to be seen how he will adapt to senior football at Ibrox.
The Light Blues can, though, look to the masterclass that they once played by snapping Arteta up when he failed to make the grade in LaLiga, and know that they may have found their next version of the current Arsenal manager in Mendy, who is another young talent with the potential to develop and enjoy success in Glasgow.