Rangers sign Lassana Coulibaly on season-long loan from Angers
Tuesday 10 July 2018 15:11, UK
Rangers have completed the season-long loan signing of Mali international Lassana Coulibaly from French side Angers.
The move, which is subject to international clearance, will see the 22-year-old become Steven Gerrard's eighth signing of the summer.
The midfielder started his career with Bastia where he made 48 appearances after making his debut in 2015.
Coulibaly, who has nine caps for Mali, joined Angers last summer and went on to make 23 appearances for the Ligue 1 side.
He is excited to play under Gerrard but admitted he was not sure if it was a joke or not.
"I am very happy to be here. When my agent told me Steven Gerrard was the manager, I said 'no problem' and I am happy to come and join this team," he told Rangers TV.
"The manager can help me to develop my football and he is someone who I watched when he was at Liverpool.
"I spoke to him when I was in Mali and he asked me if I wanted to join his team, and I said yes, although I was worried it wasn't actually Gerrard [on the phone]!
"Rangers are a good team and I knew the name before Gerrard came in. I know the team are in the Europa League and I know there is a big rivalry with Celtic."
Coulibaly is set to be joined at Ibrox by Umar Sadiq, who landed in Edinburgh late on Monday night to finalise his loan move to Rangers.
The Gers begin their Europa League qualifying campaign on Thursday evening at home to Macedonian side FK Shkupi.
