Scottish Premiership champions Rangers are looking to sign Romania international attacker Olimpiu Morutan on a loan-to-buy deal from Turkish giants Galatasaray in the January transfer window, as reported by Fotomac.
How on earth do you improve on a manager who led a club to their first league title in a decade, winning 32 of 38 games and picking up 100 points along the way?
Well, Giovanni van Bronckhorst appears to have done just that.
Any fears that he would be the Adam Lambert to Steven Gerrard’s Freddie Mercury have been emphatically dispelled over the course of the last month. Wednesday‘s 2-0 victory over St Johnstone maintained their 100 per cent start to domestic life under Van Bronckhorst.
In fact, the one game Rangers haven’t win since hiring the Dutchman last month – away to Lyon in the Europa League group-stages – still ended in a very creditable draw.
The likes of Ryan Kent, Ianis Hagi, Alfredo Morelos and Joe Aribo are playing their best football of the season, thriving in the freedom afforded to them by a coach who has cast off the shackles and injected a dash of impetus into a previously sluggish side.
Will Olimpiu Morutan thrive at Rangers?
22-year-old Morutan, a £5 million attacking midfielder who can also play out wide, also looks tailor-made for Gio-ball. He’s fast, adaptable, blessed with mazy dribbling skills and a thunderbolt of a shot.
Of all the players in Van Bronckhorst’s squad, Morutan perhaps resembles Ryan Kent the most.
In his final season at Romanian giants FCSB, before joining Galatasaray in August, he produced an impressive eight goals and 15 assists.
According to Fotomac, Rangers have made an enquiry about Morutan’s availability.
The Glasgow giants are hoping to strike a short-term loan deal which could be made permanent if the fleet-footed forward impresses at Ibrox.
Interestingly, Morutan’s agent admitted earlier this year that a couple of Serie A teams were showing an interest. One of those was rumoured to be none other than Inter Milan.
“He is an extremely talented footballer. He looks a lot like (Lionel) Messi,” said FCSB owner Gigi Becali. “He is very technical and fast.”
A word of warning; Becali has reputation for embellishment. But there’s no doubting Morutan’s talent, even if his move to Turkey hasn’t quite gone to plan.
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