Glasgow Rangers return to the top of the Premiership table is no accident, as Philippe Clement has installed a new-found belief in his group of players since arriving at Ibrox in mid-October.

Having once trailed Celtic by eight points after just seven league games, the Light Blues are now clear of their Old Firm rivals by two points and things appear to be unravelling over in the East End of Glasgow.

Not only has Clement managed to bring the Gers back into a title challenge, but he has had to do it with a squad largely inherited by former manager Michael Beale.

While the Belgian manager has made three signings of his own – luring Fabio Silva, Mohamed Diomande, and Oscar Cortes to Rangers – he has been forced to play the likes of Sam Lammers, Cyriel Dessers, and Ben Davies during his opening few months in charge.

Lammers has now joined FC Utrecht on loan until the end of the season, and it looks as though his career at Rangers could be coming to an end, while Dessers has managed 11 goals under Clement and if he can remain consistent, he could prove useful in the long run.

Davies, however, has barely featured in the current regime and his signing has been a failed piece of business to put it lightly.

Ben Davies’ Rangers statistics

The centre-back was signed by Giovanni van Bronckhorst for a transfer fee of £4m in the summer of 2022 as the Dutchman was looking to improve a squad which had won the Scottish Cup and reached the Europa League final.

Following 151 appearances in the Championship, Davies certainly had plenty of experience, but he had failed to make an appearance for Liverpool, despite joining them during the January 2021 transfer window.

The Englishman failed to really hit the ground running during his maiden season at Ibrox, playing 38 matches in all competitions, but he featured in the woeful 7-1 defeat to Liverpool in the Champions League along with the 3-2 defeat to Celtic which practically ensured they won the league crown.

Among his teammates in the Premiership, Davies ranked in a lowly 16th spot for tackles per game (0.9), along with ranking seventh for interceptions per game (0.8) and 14th for overall Sofascore rating (6.94) as he clearly failed to live up to the £4m transfer fee.

This season has arguably been worse for the 28-year-old, especially since Clement came in. Not only has he played just 12 matches, but only six have come under the 49-year-old coach.

With Connor Goldson and John Souttar now forming a solid defensive partnership, Davies may potentially leave the club during the summer and this could free up some funds for Clement to attract his own signing.

Since his move to Glasgow, the former Preston gem has seen his market value actually decline pretty rapidly following a series of poor performances.

According to Football Transfers, Davies is now currently valued at just €1.7m (£1.5m) and there is doubt this will continue to decline over the coming months.

This shows that the Gers have wasted yet more money on a player who has failed to showcase his true talents and the club even released a defender back in 2018 who is now currently valued more than Davies.

Fabio Cardoso’s market value at Porto

During the summer of 2017, Light Blues manager Pedro Caixinha was aiming to build a side which could provide some competition to Celtic in the chase for the league title.

This meant spending money in the transfer window and that he did, splashing lavish sums on the likes of Eduardo Herrera and Carlos Pena, but it was Cardoso who looked like he could be a decent signing.

"He is a player who everyone describes as having big potential to be one of the centre-halves of the future with the Portuguese national team,” beamed Caixinha following his arrival in Glasgow.

"We believe in him and he can perform on the right or on the left which is good in a centre-half."

Cardoso ended up playing just 18 matches for the Gers, however, while a serious injury suffered against Motherwell in the 2017 League Cup semi-final proved to be the beginning of the end for the defender in Glasgow as he played only another four games for the club.

He left for free when Steven Gerrard arrived in 2018 and joined CD Santa Clara. His performances for the Portuguese team led Porto to make their move in 2021, and he has since made 76 appearances for the two-time European champions and certainly looks a far better player now than he did seven years ago.

Where Are They Now

Your star player or biggest flop has left the club but what are they doing in the present day? This article is part of Football FanCast's Where Are They Now series.

The 29-year-old was impressive during Porto’s 2022/23 Champions League group stage campaign, as he completed 89% of his passes per game, along with keeping three clean sheets in four games, winning 64% of his ground duels and losing possession just 6.3 times on average each game, and it looked as though he belonged among the elite.

At the time, no one thought Cardoso would become the defender that he has over the previous few years, but his performances have allowed the club to win three domestic trophies, including a league title during the 2021/22 season.

97

11

76

4

43

1

27

1

18

0

His market value currently stands at €2.7m (£2.3m) according to Football Transfers and this is over half a million pounds higher than Davies’ current valuation, which proves how hastily Rangers moved the Portuguese defender on.

It remains to be seen what will happen to the former Liverpool centre-back at the end of the season. Leon Balogun is out of contract and looks unlikely to be offered new terms, whereas Leon King hasn’t had many chances to impress of late.

This would leave just Goldson and Souttar, along with Davies, as Clement’s only options at the heart of the defence.

Selling the 28-year-old may be the wisest choice, as the Belgian could raise funds in order to add to his backline ahead of the 2024/25 season.

What he would do to have a player such as Cardoso as an option, however, especially following his performances for Porto in recent years.