Rangers sign striker Kelsy and winger Bouanani

WHAT HAPPENED
Rangers have added two attacking players as the Scottish transfer window closed on Thursday: Venezuela striker Kevin Kelsy has been signed from MLS side Portland Timbers for an undisclosed fee on a four-year deal (with the option of a further year), and Algeria winger Badredine Bouanani has arrived on a season-long loan from Stuttgart. The club says these moves bring their summer recruitment to 14 new arrivals.

Kelsy joins after a spell in Major League Soccer with Portland, while Bouanani moves from the German top flight where he had limited game time last season.

KEY CONTEXT
- Kevin Kelsy is 22, left-footed and listed at 6ft 4in. He had joined Portland following a January 2025 transfer from Shakhtar Donetsk and had earlier played for Mineros de Guayana, Boston River (Uruguay) and Shakhtar, where he was part of two title-winning seasons and scored nine goals in 37 appearances for the Ukrainian club.
- This season for Portland, Kelsy made 16 appearances, scoring 10 goals and providing three assists; Portland are reported as 11th in the MLS Western Conference and 17th overall. He previously spent a loan spell at Cincinnati (April 2024), netting six times in 23 games.
- Badredine Bouanani is 21. He joined Stuttgart from Nice a little over a year ago for a reported fee of £13m, made nine starts and 13 substitute appearances for Stuttgart last season, and has not featured for them this season. He came through Lille’s youth system, had a loan at Lorient, played for France at youth level and switched his international allegiance to Algeria in 2023.
- The source notes Bouanani featured in two European ties relevant to Scottish clubs: he played for Nice in the 4-1 loss to Rangers in the Europa League two years ago, and the report also states he started in Stuttgart’s 1-0 home defeat by Celtic in last season’s Europa League play-off, with the article adding that the Scottish champions exited on aggregate.