Mostafa Mohamed could be Rangers’ answer to Roberto Firmino

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Steven Gerrard’s Rangers apparently want Zamalek and Egypt striker Mohamed at Ibrox.

Think of the best strikers in world football right now; Harry Kane, Karim Benzema, Roberto Firmino and Luis Suarez for example.

The days of the penalty box poacher, the Pippo Inzaghi-type predators who bare their teeth only when a tasty loose ball drops in the six-yard area, feel like a million light years away. These days, strikers are expected to do far more than hang on the far post and sniff out tap-ins.

Kane, Benzema, Firmino and Suarez are equally adept at creating chances for their team-mates as they are finishing off flowing moves themselves, while the likes of Sergio Aguero, Mauro Icardi and Robert Lewandowski have attempted to adapt their game for the greater good.

It’s a trend that Mostafa Mohamed both accepts and understands.

The 22-year-old Zamalek and Egypt striker has been linked with a move to Ibrox this week, player-turned-pundit Haytham Farouk claiming that it he ‘knows for a fact’ that Rangers are interested having been impressed by Mohamed’s stand-out displays at the Africa Cup of Nations over the summer (Scottish Sun).

And, who knows, perhaps Mohamed could do at Rangers what Firmino does so gloriously at Liverpool. With six goals as well as 13 assists to his name last season, Mohamed is certainly more Greg Stewart than Jermain Defoe.

“Scoring goals is not the only measure of a good striker. There are strikers that don’t score much but are important to their team,” he told KingFut recently.

“Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino is an example. He doesn’t score a lot, but he’s very important to the team and he assists Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah in scoring goals.”

Firmino was only just starting to establish himself as one of Europe’s most promising forwards when the brilliant Brazilian was Mohamed’s age, catching the eye in the blue and white of Hoffenheim long before making a big-money switch to Liverpool.

And while Mohamed has a long way to go before he can really prove himself to be a worthy disciple of Liverpool’s distinctive number nine, his understanding of the role is already second to none.