Philippe Clement concedes Rabbi Matondo could still leave Rangers before deadline day despite a star turn in the 6-0 Scottish Premiership hammering of Ross County.
The Wales winger has attracted reported interest from Leeds United and Blackburn Rovers in recent weeks but a move has yet to materialise.
If he is to depart the Glasgow giants, he does so on a high having scored twice and assisted two more at Hampden Park – where the Gers have been playing home games while Ibrox undergoes redevelopment work.
Speaking about Matondo's future before the transfer window shuts on Friday, Gers boss Clement said in quotes reported by BBC Sport: "There are a lot of rumours [linking him away]. We cannot say no to everything, we'll see this week.
"For the moment, Rabbi will be here with us next week. That's what I want also. But if someone comes with enough money, the club will always be open for talks."
Cyriel Dessers was also on target twice against Ross, while Tom Lawrence and Danilo registered as Rangers warmed up for next week's Old Firm derby against Celtic in fine fashion.
Dessers has often been a much-maligned figure at the club but Clement thinks the Nigeria international is currently playing the best football of his career.
In quotes reported by the club's official website, he said: "He deserves it, he is doing a very good job.
"This is the best Cyriel that I have seen in his career until now and he is somebody who is hungry to play for his shirt and someone who is also hungry to learn to become better.
"He is not 20 years old anymore but he stays hungry to learn all the details and you see in several details he is becoming better and better by doing it and by watching the videos and to talk about it."
The resounding victory saw Rangers move top of the Premiership having played three games, albeit Celtic and Aberdeen can leapfrog them as they play St Mirren and Kilmarnock respectively on Sunday.
Liverpool 2-0 Brentford: Slot marks first match at Anfield in style
Liverpool boss Arne Slot made himself at home at Anfield as goals from Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah secured a 2-0 victory over Brentford.
After winning by the same scoreline away at Ipswich Town last week, Slot saw his team dominate much of Sunday’s encounter to keep up their perfect record to start the 2024-25 Premier League season.
Slot waited just 13 minutes for his first home game to spark into life – Diogo Jota leading a rapid counter-attack from a Brentford corner before laying it off to Diaz, who lashed in beyond Mark Flekken to mark his 100th Reds appearance in style.
Flekken and Nathan Collins combined to keep Liverpool at bay in the second half, while Brentford – who were again without Ivan Toney – went close through Kristoffer Ajer at the other end.
However, Liverpool’s dominance finally told when Diaz turned provider for the Reds’ second, which was expertly guided home by Salah with 20 minutes remaining.
Cody Gakpo’s deflected effort struck the crossbar late on, as the Reds joined Manchester City, Brighton and Arsenal on two wins from as many matches.
Data Debrief: Slot makes himself at home
Slot is the first Liverpool manager to win his first two league matches in charge since Graeme Souness in April 1991.
Stretching back to last season, Liverpool have now scored in each of their last six league games, scoring 15 goals during that run.
Liverpool 2-0 Brentford: Slot marks first match at Anfield with win
Liverpool boss Arne Slot made himself at home at Anfield as goals from Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah secured a 2-0 victory over Brentford.
After winning by the same scoreline away at Ipswich Town last week, Slot saw his team dominate much of Sunday’s encounter to keep up their perfect record to start the 2024-25 Premier League season.
Slot waited just 13 minutes for his first home game to spark into life – Diogo Jota leading a rapid counter-attack from a Brentford corner before laying it off to Diaz, who lashed in beyond Mark Flekken to mark his 100th Reds appearance in style.
Flekken and Nathan Collins combined to keep Liverpool at bay in the second half, while Brentford – who were again without Ivan Toney – went close through Kristoffer Ajer at the other end.
However, Liverpool’s dominance finally told when Diaz turned provider for the Reds’ second, which was expertly guided home by Salah with 20 minutes remaining.
Cody Gakpo’s deflected effort struck the crossbar late on, as the Reds joined Manchester City, Brighton and Arsenal on two wins from as many matches.
Data Debrief:
Jota has contributed to goals in his last 3 games in the Premier League (2 goals, 1 assist).
Slot is the first Liverpool manager to win his first two league matches in charge since Graeme Souness in April 1991.
Stretching back to last season, Liverpool have now scored in each of their last six league games, scoring 15 goals during that run.
'He is cold and I am fire' - Madueke hails Palmer link-up after Wolves thrashing
Noni Madueke believes his link-up with Cole Palmer is perfectly balanced after he set him up for a hat-trick in their 6-2 thrashing of Wolves.
Enzo Maresca earned his first Premier League win thanks to Madueke's 14-minute hat-trick, after Matheus Cunha and Jorgen Strand Larsen had cancelled out Nicolas Jackson and Palmer's goals in the first half. New signing Joao Felix then rounded off a superb display for the Blues with 10 minutes remaining.
It is the fifth time that a player has assisted each goal for a team-mate's hat-trick in the Premier League, and Madueke was pleased with how well they complimented each other on Sunday.
"It is unbelievable. He is cold, and I am fire, so it mixes well," Madueke told PLP.
"He has the ability to always play a pass at the right time. I like to get the ball in space, beat people and make things happen, so luckily today it worked.
"The first [goal] was a bit lucky. Second one was all Cole Palmer; two brilliant passes, with the weight of pass I just had to step onto the ball and score.
"I'm made up for the hat-trick, but more made up we won the game."
Madueke was the subject of ire from the home fans after posting a now-deleted Instagram post with a less-than-complimentary opinion about the city of Wolverhampton.
"I just want to apologise to everyone that I might have offended," he added. "It is just a human mistake, an accident.
"It wasn't meant to be out on my socials like that. I'm sure Wolverhampton is a nice town, and I'm sorry."
Maresca is the first manager in Premier League history to see his team score six goals in his first away game in the competition. Despite being pleased by the emphatic nature of the win, Maresca admitted there were still improvements to be made.
"The performance was good. I think the first half was not a complete performance, we started well in the first 10 to 15 minutes, we scored a goal and had two or three more chances," he told Sky Sports.
"Then we lost a few easy balls. When you want to build from behind you cannot allow yourself to lose easy balls, otherwise you concede set pieces and counter-attacks. You need to be more accurate. Overall, the performance was good."
Meanwhile, Wolves sit at the bottom of the early standings having failed to win their first two games, stretching their losing run to five matches in the Premier League.
After a bright first-half performance that twice saw Wolves come from behind to level the score, Gary O'Neil was left frustrated with the easy nature of Chelsea's goals in the second half.
"We gave Chelsea a lot of help, so there is an awful lot I need to fix," O'Neil told BBC Sport.
"They were unacceptable [mistakes] from us. I am all for positivity and when the lads do well, they know they have done well, but from all of us as a group, to concede those three goals as we do is unacceptable."
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