Philippe Clement reveals major Rangers injury setback and addresses Anderlecht job links

Rangers manager Philippe Clement has expressed his commitment to the club after reports in Belgium linked him with the managerial vacancy at Anderlecht.

The Brussels outfit are looking for a new boss after sacking Dane Brian Riemer and former Belgium international Nordin Jbari claimed that the Light Blues’ Belgian boss would be an ideal replacement.

The 50-year-old is highly regarded in his homeland following successful spells in charge of both Genk and Club Brugge, where he won three titles in four seasons as well as numerous cups.

Clement has come under pressure since signing a new contract until 2028 last month with a major summer overhaul of the squad, being forced to play at Hampden, an early Champions League exit and losing 3-0 to Celtic to fall five points behind in the title race all contributing to a difficult start to the season.

However, the Rangers gaffer insists he is up for the challenge and that no offer from any club will tempt him away from Glasgow.

"It's really clear I engaged myself long-term with Rangers last month," he said. "Whatever team comes, I'm not going to go away. So really clear. I want this project with the club to make it really successful for the future. We all know we need time for that. We need a few transfer windows. We need a lot of work to do for that, and that's what I want to do, because I love the city, I love the club, and I love the dynamic at Ibrox with the fans, so I'm here to stay."

Manager Philippe Clement during a Rangers training session on September 25, 2024, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Rob Casey / SNS Group) | SNS Group

Clement, who was speaking at his press conference ahead of his side's Europa League opener against Malmo in Sweden on Thursday, revealed that winger Oscar Cortes has suffered a fresh injury setback.

The on-loan Lens winger, whose deal includes an obligation to buy at the end of the season, received a "bad knock" in training which has ruled him out for "several weeks."

"We lost Oscar in training this week," Clement confirmed. "In a tackle, he got a bad knock and will be out for several weeks. So that's a disappointing thing becuase he was growing back to his best level and showing the player he is and will be in the future."

Cortes has played only 10 times for Rangers since initially joining on loan last January due to a series of injury setbacks. However, Clement insists the player is not injury prone.

"It's duels, it's part of football. You have lucky moments and you have unlucky moments. This was an unlucky one. Also not a crazy tackle but you have duels in football and he's been really unlucky this last couple of months with those things. I hope all the bad luck for him stops now after this and the rest of his career will be the luck side. But it's part of football."

Rangers will also be missing the suspended Jefte after his red card against Dynamo Kyiv in last month’s Champions League third qualification round defeat. With Ridvan Yilmaz also injured, Clement has no recognised first-team left-back available.

“We have to find some solutions becuase of the suspension of Jefte, and because Ridvan Yilmaz is not available yet,” he said. “So that will change some things that we didn’t have much time to train on.”