Borna Barisic has been much improved for Steven Gerrard’s Scottish Premiership powerhouses Rangers this season.
He’s getting there.
14 months after Rangers paid £2.2 million to bring Borna Barisic to Ibrox, the Croatian international full-back is starting to look like, well, a £2.2 million Croatian international.
After a difficult debut season full of injuries and questions about his confidence and suitability in Steven Gerrard’s team, Barisic is heading in the right direction at last. The statistics reflect that too.
In 11 games, the left-back has produced five assists and he’s even scored a pair of pinpoint free-kicks too, curling a powerful shot into the top corner of the net during Rangers’ 5-0 thrashing of Hamilton Academical on Sunday.
But it would be a little premature to suggest that Barisic has won over Gerrard for good.
“Just this week, Rangers tried to sign me.” Those are the words of Alexander Buttner, the former Manchester United flyer who has just been unveiled by MLS outfit New England Revolution, as reported by the Scottish Sun.
He, like Barisic, is a left-back. And Buttner’s claim that Rangers tried to sign him ‘this week’, not over the summer, certainly raise more questions than answers.
Does Barisic still have a long way to go to show Gerrard that he can be trusted to be Rangers’ number one left-back for the months to come with the Glasgow giants hoping to compete both at home and abroad? It certainly seems so.
The former NK Osijek star has made big strides in recent weeks but he started last season impressively too before struggling badly over the winter months. Once his confidence dropped, he never got it back.
And with neither Jon Flanagan nor Andy Halliday natural left-backs, Gerrard has a lack of convincing options waiting in the wings. Buttner’s sudden declaration certainly suggests that the Liverpool legend has doubts nagging away in the back of his mind.
But more stunning free-kicks like that against Hamilton will ensure Barisic makes Gerrard forget all about Buttner.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
