![\"Rangers](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Russell-Martin-Jefte-Nedim-Bajrami-1140x641.jpg\")
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(Credit: Imago)<\/p>\n
![\"Ciaran](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20210903_163509-150x150.jpg\")
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Tue 19 August 2025 13:05, UK <\/p>\n
Russell Martin has been forced to axe two players from his Champions League squad as Rangers prepare for their play-off with Club Brugge.<\/strong><\/p>\n Rangers edged past Viktoria Plzen<\/a> in the last round of Champions League qualifying and will now face Belgian side Club Brugge for a place in the league stages. <\/p>\n There match against St Mirren this weekend will not be postponed as Rangers pulled a request<\/a> to change the date of the fixture amid their Champions League tie. <\/p>\n Cyriel Dessers may return from injury to partake against Club Brugge<\/a>, but the striker will be expected to play against the Saints.<\/p>\n Martin though has left two players out of his squad for the Champions League clash, with both player\u2019s not in his plans at the club.<\/p>\n As per the Daily Record<\/a>, [19 August], Jefte is nearing a move to Palmerias whilst Nedim Bajrami has been left out with Martin preferring to have recent loan signing Jayden Meghoma in the squad.<\/p>\n Bajrami started and impressed in the League Cup against Alloa<\/a>, but the midfielder has barely featured for Rangers<\/a> this season and was left out for their squad against Dundee last time out in the Scottish Premiership.<\/p>\n MORE FOOTBALL INSIDER STORIES<\/p>\n Jefte meanwhile faces competition from James Tavernier and Max Aarons at full-back and could be guaranteed greater playing time in his native Brazil.<\/p>\n Martin continues shaping Rangers squad<\/strong> Football Insider Verdict<\/strong><\/p>\n Martin is continuing his Rangers re-build by allowing players to leave that are not in his plans. <\/p>\n Bajrami will not be hanging around Ibrox if he is not being selected in matchday squads, whilst Jefte is already on his way out of the Ibrox exit door. <\/p>\n Jefte has been a defensive liability for Rangers at times, with the full-back focused on contributing in attack rather than focusing on his defensive work. <\/p>\n Jefte\u2019s Rangers stats in all competitions.<\/p>\n His display against Viktor Plzen, alongside Tavernier\u2019s own defensive weaknesses, highlighted Martin\u2019s need to improve his full-back options. <\/p>\n Martin is well stocked in midfield, and Bajrami has not been given much of an opportunity aside from a cup tie against a side two league\u2019s below.<\/p>\n Rangers still have work to do if they\u2019re to match the calibre of squad at the disposal of their fiercest rivals Celtic, but Martin is being ruthless in hope that performances on the pitch improve.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Related Posts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Credit: Imago) Tue 19 August 2025 13:05, UK Russell Martin has been forced to axe two players from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":357209,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4100],"tags":[94,1636,125826,5074,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-357208","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-jefte","10":"tag-nedim-bajrami","11":"tag-rangers","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115056331197421582","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=357208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357208\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/357209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=357208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=357208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=357208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Rangers](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/russell-martin-2-1024x752.jpg\")
Martin has had to leave two players out of his latest squad. (Credit: Imago)Ruthless Martin drops two stars from squad<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"Jefte](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Jefte-1024x575.jpg\")
Jefte is close to leaving Rangers. (Credit Imago)<\/p>\n\n Appearances<\/td>\n 56<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Goals<\/td>\n 1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Assists<\/td>\n 4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n