Badredine Bouanani is set to leave Stuttgart for Rangers on a season-long loan, explaining why the Algeria international was left out of the German club’s Champions League squad.
The 21-year-old winger was not included in Stuttgart’s 24-man List A submitted to UEFA, despite regulations allowing the club to register one additional player. According to L’Equipe, Bouanani is close to joining Rangers in a deal that will include an option to buy worth €18m.
Bouanani is already in Scotland and is due to undergo a medical on Thursday before the transfer can be completed.
The move remains possible because the Scottish transfer window is still open, even though the market has closed in Germany and several other major European leagues. Stuttgart can therefore still transfer a player to a Scottish club.
For Bouanani, the switch represents an opportunity to rebuild his career after an inconsistent first season in Germany.
He joined Stuttgart from Nice in the summer of 2025 and made 28 appearances, scoring twice and providing two assists. However, he was unable to establish himself as a regular starter for the VfB, although his performances improved towards the end of the campaign.
His name had also been linked with Strasbourg, Werder Bremen and Schalke 04 during the summer.
A move to Glasgow could give Bouanani more responsibility and regular playing time. He would link up with fellow new arrivals including Mauritanian forward Djeidi Gassama and South African defender Olwethu Makhanya.
There is, however, a significant compromise. Bouanani will not play European football this season because Rangers were eliminated in the UEFA Conference League play-offs.
Rangers, who are not currently enjoying the most successful period in their history, have also made an uneven start to their domestic campaign. They have collected two wins, one draw and one defeat from their first four league matches.
For Bouanani, though, the immediate priority appears to be securing minutes, rebuilding his confidence and becoming an important player. That could prove more valuable to his development than spending Champions League evenings on the Stuttgart substitutes’ bench.
The decision to leave Stuttgart also provides a clearer explanation for his absence from the club’s European squad. Rather than being a reflection solely of his standing within the team, it appears to have been connected to the expectation that he would continue his career elsewhere.
The proposed loan would give Bouanani the chance to start again in Scotland at a relatively early stage of his career. At 21, he now has the opportunity to pursue a more prominent role with Rangers, even though the club’s failure to reach the UEFA Conference League means his campaign will not include European competition.