Niklas Dorsch had a difficult decision to make this summer; would he head to Scotland and join Steven Gerrard’s Rangers revolution (InFranken)?
Or, instead, cross the German-Belgian border and put pen to paper with Gent.
After weeks of speculation, a man who missed out on promotion to the Bundesliga with Heidenheim last term made his choice. But why Gent over Glasgow?
Well, as Dorsch explained after sealing his £3 million move, the chance to play Champions League football in 2020/21 was something of a deal-breaker.
“I chose Gent because I can play internationally (in the Champions League),” he told the club’s Twitter account. “I can also win the (Belgian) title here.”
Four months on, those comments have aged about as well as Pedro Caixinha’s claims that a Rangers team containing Rob Kiernan, Joe Garner and Joe Dodoo was the best in Scotland.
Gent were swept aside by Dinamo Kiev in September’s Champions League qualifier.
And as Rangers cruised through their Europa League group in style, outplaying Benfica while claiming 11 points out of a possible 15, Dorsch’s short-lived continental adventure came to a miserable, and rather premature, end.
A 2-1 home defeat to Slovan Liberec on Thursday leaves Gent bottom of their group with five losses out of five. No points in Europe’s secondary club competition: that was not what the former Bayern Munich play-maker had planned when he was dreaming of the Champions League anthem at the Ghelamco Arena.
In case you were wondering, it is not going much better at domestic level either.
Dorsch wanted to at least challenge for the Belgian title this term. After 14 games, Gent are 12th, closer to the bottom of the table than they are to the top.
We all make mistakes of course and, four months after choosing Gent over Rangers, Dorsch could be forgiven for wishing he could turn back the clock as Gerrard’s irrepressible Gers sweep all before them at home and abroad.
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