Steven Gerrard’s Scottish Premiership powerhouses Rangers reportedly want to sign another NK Osijek player in Croatian striker Mirko Maric.
Rangers could be about to sign a third player from NK Osijek in the space of just 12 months.
According to the Daily Record, the Scottish Premiership giants are interested in striker Mirko Maric, one year after they brought left-back Borna Barisic and winger Eros Grezda to Ibrox from the Croatian outfit.
The report claims that director of football Mark Allen has been watching Maric closely with the forward valued at £3 million – which would make him their most expensive signing since fellow Croatian Nikica Jelavic arrived for £4 million nine years ago (BBC).
But the comparisons with Jelavic don’t stop at his nationality and his price-tag. Standing at 6ft 2ins, Maric is exactly the same height as the one-time Everton and West Ham striker and he could bring some presence and physicality to Rangers’ frontline.
He is a prolific goalscorer, too. With 16 to his name, no one has scored more than Maric in Croatia’s top flight this season. And the signs suggest that the 23-year-old could give Rangers something different in attack – a potential Plan B for a side who are used to dominating possession.
A genuine poacher who comes alive in the six-yard box, Maric is an out-and-out goalscorer who would allow Rangers to play a more direct style or pump balls into the box if required.
Only time will tell whether he can better Jelavic’s record of 30 goals in 45 league games.
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