Ah, meet Rafael Fernandes, a Portuguese chap, who first let out a wail on the 28th of June, 2002, making him a fresh-faced 22 years old. Primarily parading as a central defender for those delightful Rangers, this lad stands tall at 6ft 2in (1.89m for those enamoured with the metric system) and tips the scale at 12st 8lb, or 80kg. You’ll find him dashing about in the number 28 jersey - I wonder if he’s superstitious about wearing his birth date. I can report that Fernandes hasn't completely ignored his homeland, having turned out for the Portugal U21 squad.
Now, let us weigh up his fiscal merits. His economic worth in the harsh world of football is gauged at around a cool £1m, according to Transfermarkt, they're the ones in the know after all. Just four short months are left on his Rangers contract, which is set to culminate in a fireworks display on the 30th June 2025.
Begin the chronicle of his wandering journey. It was in the balmy summer of July 2022 that our dear Fernandes winged it from Sporting CP to Arouca, both in the domain of Liga Portugal. Clearly, not a fan of terra firma, he mustered a total of two first team outings in the league during his inaugural season. The following year, he got himself a bit busier, tallying a grand total of 11 appearances for Arouca.
Then, in January 2024, our sometime-somewhere defender sailed to France, having been roped in for about £2.2m by the Ligue 1 outfit Lille. One can’t help but suspect he was seeking out the gastronomic delights of garlic snails. After what must be a year-long food coma, he then hopped onto a jet, this time settling on Bonnie Scotland as his next port of call. Rangers - yes, our Rangers, caught him mid-flight and put him onto their roster. There, he has chalked up two first appearances for the current season, 2024 - 2025.
By the way, this Fernandes did make himself useful in the Scottish Cup 2024 - 2025 for the Rangers with one start. Let's hope he was wearing his lucky number 28 shirt for that!
