The Moroccan striker sealed a big money move to Ligue 1 at the end of the transfer window
Rangers Manager Philippe Clement and Hamza Igamane
Hamza Igamane praised flop Rangers boss Philippe Clement for turning him into a £10 million player at Ibrox.
And he revealed he was desperate to seal his big money move to Lille all summer after admitting he can’t wait to form a strike partnership with French legend Olivier Giroud at the club.
The Moroccan international clinched a move to Ligue 1 last month after netting 16 goals for Rangers in all competitions last season.
He made a superb debut when he scored a double in a 7-1 win over Lorient after coming on as a sub.
Because he was away on international duty, he had yet to have an official presentation as a Lille player until this week and he took the opportunity to praise axed Belgium boss Clement for his time at Rangers.
Igamane said: “At Rangers, it was Philippe Clement who helped me progress a lot.
“With his help, I was able to show the best of me at Rangers. I had confidence in my abilities.
“I was very hopeful that the Lille president would find an agreement with Glasgow Rangers.
“I went through that period calmly. I was mentally strong and with God’s help, we were able to complete the transfer so I could be here.
“Olivier Giroud has a lot of talent and I have always loved his style of play, I learned a lot from him.
Lille Olympique Sporting Club’s (LOSC) president Olivier Letang poses with Olivier Giroud(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
“He’s a player I’ve followed since I was little, especially when he played at Arsenal.
“Everyone knows him, everyone knows his abilities. I’m going to learn a lot from him, because he played at the highest level. I hope we’ll both bring a lot to this club.
“I won’t have any problems adapting. I was in Scotland, where the culture and football are very different, so there will be no problems here.”
And Lille president Olivier Letang admitted they had to work hard to sign Igamane because Rangers played hardball with the 22-year-old.
He said: “We spoke with Hamza several months ago, at the end of last season.
“It took quite a long time for the transfer to be completed because his club was committed to him staying. For us, he was an obvious choice because of his qualities.”