The chances of Toni Kroos turning his back on Real Madrid and linking up with Ryan Jack at the heart of Rangers’ midfield looks about as slim as Pedro Caixinha returning to Ibrox and snatching Steven Gerrard’s job.
But maybe the ‘new Kroos’, or at least a man who idolises the World Cup winning Germany international, could be heading to the blue half of Glasgow.
“Toni Kroos was the first player from whom I learned by watching,” Niklas Dorsch once told Goal of a player he idolised from the sidelines at Bayern Munich.
“His vision, his passing accuracy and his calmness with the ball at his feet were very impressive for me.”
Now shining at second tier Heidenheim, Dorsch might not reach the same heights as a man who has conquered Europe and the world with Real Madrid and Germany. But a move to Rangers, as reported by InFranken, would certainly allow this £2.8 million playmaker to show off his own eye-catching range of passes on a bigger stage.
Dorsch, however, is not the only deep-lying, ball-playing, string-puller on Rangers’ summer wishlist. Pedro Chirivella will come a damn sight cheaper too.
Goal report that a player who has caught Steven Gerrard’s eye will be a free agent this summer once his contract at Liverpool runs out.
Chirivella, like Dorsch, is a man who loves setting the tempo and orchestrating things from the base of midfield. Not too dissimilar, then, to a man who Gerrard once shared the trenches with in a midfield battleground.
During his time at Valencia, the Spanish schemer was labelled ‘the new Xabi Alonso’ (Mail). And, although he hasn’t been given many opportunities to show why at Anfield, eye-catching displays like that against Everton in January’s FA Cup triumph show why comparisons to a modern-day Liverpool great are not too wide of the mark.
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