Whenever a midfielder develops a knack for bursting into the penalty area to finish off chances, it’s a common sight to see comparisons with two of the finest box-crashers of the 21st century emerge. And the story is no different with regards to a free-scoring star with admirers at Rangers ahead of the summer transfer window.
For all the talent Philippe Clement has at his disposal in the centre of the park, a team once managed by Steven Gerrard do not really have a midfielder with the Scouser’s eye for goal.
Todd Cantwell is Rangers‘ top scoring midfielder with just five. In fact, he is the only one to net more than two.
Eduard Spertsyan, in contrast, found the target 14 times in 2022/23. The Krasnodar talisman was in a class of his own, as the single player in the Russian Premier League to reach double figures for both goals and assists. He could yet match that feat in 2023/24, with nine of the former and six of the latter across just 21 appearances.
“Edik (Spertsyan) is a top football player with strong qualities,” Nair Tiknizyan, the 23-year-old’s team-mate in the Armenian national team, tells MetaRatings. “He is a real conductor of the team. He has excellent vision of the field.
“His role can be compared to that of Frank Lampard at Chelsea or Steven Gerrard at Liverpool. The whole team largely depends on how he plays.”
Rangers are keen on Krasnodar’s Edouard Spertsyan
HITC understands that Spertsyan – the biggest talent in Russian football outside of Moscow or St Petersburg – has found himself on the radars of both Rangers and their Old Firm rivals Celtic. Make no mistake, this will not be an easy deal to do.
Spertsyan himself admitted a few weeks back that he expects Krasnodar to demand a fee in the region of £13 million. A fee far higher than Rangers have ever spent on a single player before.
There is also the added complication of British clubs being encouraged to avoid doing business with Russian sides during the ongoing Ukraine conflict.
But if those sizeable obstacles can be overcome, then Spertsyan may be the sort of addition capable of taking Rangers up a level. The sort of addition who can turn a Champions League group-stage exit into a shot at the knock-outs, with his eye for goal, his creativity, and his devilish set-pieces. A game-changing Rangers signing, equivalent of say a Kyogo Furuhashi or a Jota.
“Certainly (he can get a big move to Europe)! This is Edo! When I was still working at Krasnodar, he was a little behind the other guys physically, but in understanding the game he was ahead of everyone,” the former deputy head coach of the Krasnodar academy, Nikola Elich, tells Sport Express.
Elich, in fact, goes as far as to describe Spertsyan as ‘one of the best midfielders in Europe’.
‘One of the best midfielders in Europe’
HITC understands that Spertsyan is more likely to end up at a club in mainland Europe this summer. There is interest from Feyenoord, PSV Eindhoven and an Ajax side who tried and failed to sign the Russian-born playmaker in 2023.
Even if their interest is destined to come to nothing, if the early days of the Philippe Clement and Nils Koppen era are anything to go by, Rangers’ talent ID has come on leaps and bounds since the Mick Beale era.
“He deserves to play in the biggest clubs in Spain or Germany,” adds Borussia Monchengladbach forward Grant-Leon Ranos, anotther of Spertsyan’s Armenia team-mates (Metaratings).
“I think Spertsyan is ready to move to Europe. Edo has great potential and a high level of play. He will need time to adapt to the environment and level of play, and to learn the language. I think he can handle it.
“I would like as many players of the Armenian national team as possible to move to the European leagues.”
