Rangers defender Olwethu Makhanya hailed as ‘the real deal’ after promising start

Rangers defender Olwethu Makhanya has made an immediate impression in Scotland, with Rangers Review journalist Derek Clark saying the former Stellenbosch player “looks a real deal” after settling quickly at Ibrox.

The 22-year-old joined Rangers from Philadelphia Union, but work permit problems delayed his competitive debut. He eventually started the club’s second Scottish Premiership match of the season against Hibernian two weeks ago, playing the entire game in a 2-1 defeat.

Since then, Makhanya has received widespread praise from Rangers supporters on social media, particularly for his displays during the club’s European qualifying campaign. His early progress prompted KickOff to ask Clark how the South Africa defender had adapted to life at Rangers.

“He certainly has (been well received), he’s been really good. He has settled in really well, he looks like he has been playing at Rangers for a number of years, he has not looked out of place at all,” Clark said.

Rangers recruited 12 players during the summer, and Clark believes many new arrivals would normally need time to adjust to the demands and style of Scottish football.

“You tend to find Rangers signings, they’ve made 12 new signings this summer, many of them take time to adapt, because a lot of them Scottish football is not what they are used to.

“But he (Makhanya) has settled really well, the fans are happy with him, the manager is really happy with him as well, hopefully he can keep that up because he looks a real deal at the moment,” Clark said.

Makhanya’s encouraging start has come during a difficult period for Rangers in Europe. The Scottish club were knocked out of the UEFA Europa League after losing 3-2 on aggregate to Polish side Jagiellonia in the third qualifying round. Makhanya was an unused substitute in the first leg.

Clark said the result was disappointing because Rangers had been expected to defeat a Jagiellonia side that had struggled during the previous season.

“It was a blow because many expected Rangers to beat the team they were up against, a Polish team, it’s a brand new team, last season they were really poor,” Clark explained.

He added that Rangers’ shortcomings were more apparent in attack than in defence, and did not believe Makhanya was responsible for the elimination.

“It was not so much the fault of Makhanya but certainly in the forward areas Rangers lacked real quality to be honest. I know they are trying to sign two players in the next day or two, which would help things,” Clark added.

Rangers have now dropped into the UEFA Europa Conference League play-off round. They began that tie with a 1-0 first-leg victory over Czech side Jablonec, as Makhanya continues to compete for a regular role in the team.