When asked what Rangers should do with the £25 million they would potentially earn from Calvin Bassey’s move to Aston Villa, former Ibrox hero Craig Moore insisted that the money should not be spent on securing a direct replacement for the powerhouse Nigerian.
Instead, Moore told Go Radio; ‘We should use it to bring a creative spark in midfield’.
Rangers’ pursuit of Oscar Gloukh certainly feels ‘creative’ on two fronts. Not just because the Israeli wonderkid is one of the most exciting, up-and-coming attacking midfielders anywhere in the game right now, but because it takes a lot of ‘out-the-box’ thinking to identify an 18-year-old plying his trade back home for Maccabi Tel Aviv as a leading target for a club with title ambitions. Especially when you consider Rangers are a side who tend to look closer to home for new signings.
Could wonderkid Oscar Gloukh be heading to Rangers?
According to the Scottish Sun, Rangers scouted Gloukh, who only turned 18 in April, as Israel beat France’s U19s in midweek.
“He is a mature, smart and technically brilliant attacking midfielder,” former Maccabi Tel Aviv chief Christian Carlsen tells ESPN, translated by Sport1. “Someone who sometimes plays as number eight, sometimes number ten or as a creative winger.”
Hence those comparisons with one Mesut Ozil.
“It is very difficult to stop him when dribbles in front of the defender,” adds Carlsen. “Gluch is a brilliant dribbler and he always seems to collect the ball in the most ideal positions and manages to set up chances for his teammates with his precision.”
Unsurprisingly, a player of such colossal potential and re-sale value won’t come cheap. Interest from perennial superstar-spotters Borussia Dortmund could drive up the teenager’s price-tag quicker than a new Banksy painting at a frenzied auction house. Maccabi Tel Aviv coach Vladimir Ivic, meanwhile, insists that Gloukh won’t be sold for a penny less than £8 million.
A high-risk – albeit potentially high-reward – addition.
Bid made for Antonio Colak
Fortunately, PAOK are not demanding quite so much for Antonio Colak. Ten years Gloukh’s senior maybe. But no less exciting for Rangers supporters praying at the end of their blue-cover beds for a marquee signing or two.
Colak scored 22 goals on loan at Malmo last term. And the Ibrox faithful have already witnessed first hand just how ruthlessly efficient he can be. The Croatia international found the net twice as Malmo knocked Rangers out of the Champions League in August 2021. And you’d struggle to find a more aesthetically-pleasing brace anywhere in the competition.
His first, drilled into the bottom corner from the most unlikely of angles, preceded an even better second; Colak leaving Leon Balogun with a nasty case of twisted blood before wrong-footing Allan McGregor.
According to Sky Sports, Rangers have already agreed personal terms with Colak. PAOK are holding out for £2.5 million. But there is a confidence that hands will be shaken sooner rather than later.
The question is, how would Colak and Gloukh fit into Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s XI?
An all-new attacking partnership at Rangers?
Colak, who has scored more than 19 goals in three of the last five seasons, already has a proven track record when it comes to leading the line. Either as a lone frontman or as part a mobile front two. If Alfredo Morelos goes, Colak should slot in at number nine.
Gloukh, meanwhile, could play a role similar to that of Ianis Hagi under Van Bronckhorst. A roving playmaker given the freedom to pull the strings all across the final third thanks to the discipline and experience of Ryan Jack, Glen Kamara, John Lundstram or Steven Davis behind him. It was Hagi’s work-rate – he possesses grit as well as guile – that earned the Romanian a place in the heart of Rangers supporters.
Natural number tens like Gloukh aren’t exactly renowned for their defensive discipline. But the teenager is not afraid to track back or to do the dirty work when required.
With Joe Aribo potentially following Morelos out the door, the Colak-Gloukh partnership would have big boots to fill. But adapt to the Glasgow goldfish bowl and there is no reason why Rangers cannot swim rather than sink without two of their Invincibles.
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