RANGERS boss Philippe Clement believes the club have unearthed a ‘rough diamond’ in Hamza Igamane after the Moroccan forward inspired them to a crushing 6-0 victory over Kilmarnock.
Igamane was instrumental as Rangers produced their best domestic display of the season, putting six goals past a hapless Killie side at Ibrox.
Clement praised his players for showing a lethal touch in front of goal, with a dominant performance ensuring the manager has some credit in the bank ahead of the club’s AGM on Thursday afternoon.
James Tavernier started the rout in the first half with his first league goal of the season, with Rangers then netting a further five times in the second half. Danilo and Igamane both found the net, as did Vaclav Cerny, before substitute Cyriel Dessers came off the bench to score twice.
Striker Hamza Igamane has huge potential, according to Rangers boss Philippe Clement
Hamza Igamane scores Rangers’ third in their destruction of Kilmarnock
Clement believes Hamza Igamane could be a real asset for Rangers in years to come
Praising the impact of Igamane, who was also man of the match in the 4-1 Europa League win away at Nice last week, Clement said: ‘I spoke with a lot of people before bringing Hamza in to the club.
‘People in Morocco I knew from before. I’m lucky in that way that people knew him. They said he’s a rough diamond.
‘They said: “We don’t know if he’s going to be ready from the start. Maybe in one year he’s going to be ready to play”.
‘That was the thing they said. But we saw the potential and we went for it because that’s also what the club needs to do now. We spoke about that before the season. We come out of a period where the club, the last couple of years, didn’t have any assets to sell. Because of that, it’s difficult to make transfers.
‘So we need to make players better who can go to a higher level. We will see with him. It’s about hunger and desire in that way.
‘He’s doing really good things. I don’t know if you saw the interview with his translator, who helped us a lot in the beginning because even his French was minor.
‘So now I can speak in French with him, that he understands things better.
‘Nico Raskin is also helping in the meetings to translate that. So it’s a different world for the young boy. But he’s taking the steps really well. Why? Because he has hunger and desire to get better every day.’
Rangers produced a dominant display, clicking into gear with their most stylish performance of the season.
Clement started with both Danilo and Igamane in what was an attacking line-up and the Ibrox boss was delighted to see the bold selection pay off.
‘That’s the football I want to see,’ he said. ‘We want to entertain our fans.
‘The players got the rewards, which maybe they haven’t done sometimes recently.
‘You see the potential and the way this team can play and open up teams who want to make a low block and man-marking all over the pitch.
‘I think we give a good example how we can be lethal in that way.
‘I don’t want to be satisfied with this. That’s what I’m going to push on, like I’ve been pushing the last weeks and the months, also to get it better and better and better in every detail. We’re going to continue in that way.’
