In most leagues, 92 points would usually be enough to win you the title. But not in the Scottish Premiership. Not for Rangers. Not when Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic are finishing just one shy of treble-figures, winning 32 of their 38 matches en route to yet another league crown.
For the second season in a row, a player who impressed under Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Mick Beale in 2022/23 looks destined to cross the 90-point threshold.
This time, however, a member of Rangers‘ runner-ups should end up swigging from champagne rather than drowning his sorrows. Malik Tillman‘s side are nine clear of reigning Eredivisie champions Feyenoord with only four matchdays remaining. As such, a win and a draw will be enough to secure Tillman – a Scottish Cup winner and the 2023 SPFA Young Player of the Year – his first piece of silverware in Dutch football.
Former Rangers ace justifying his £11m price-tag
The stylish America international, such a big hit at Ibrox, has made quite the impression at the Philips Stadium too.
With seven goals and 14 assists, Tillman has exceeded his tally of ‘goal contributions’ from that spell in Scotland. He’s also currently in the best form of his PSV career, finding the net during the 6-0 shellacking of a dreadful Vitesse Arnhem side on Saturday.
As far as PSV are concerned, however, Tillman might just have done a little too well.
Remember that scene in the first Incredibles movie when Dash’s parents are urging him to slow down and finish second in a school race, so as not to draw attention to his superpowers? That may be how the PSV supporters are feeling as Tillman grows in stature and confidence, in the knowledge that parent club Bayern Munich may opt to take the 21-year-old back to Bavaria.
“(PSV) are working hard to keep him away from Bayern Munich. I just think it is a vain hope,” Dutch reporter Rik Elfrink tells the AlgemeenDagblad podcast.
“PSV can exercise a purchase option of around 12 to 13 million euros. But Bayern can do that with a fine of around three million euros. (Keeping Tillman) will be difficult, but who knows.
“The (chance of a) miracle are still there.”
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That PSV are now relying on a ‘miracle’ to keep Tillman out of the clutches of one of Europe’s A-list clubs is testament to just how impressive a footballer the Nurenburg-born playmaker has become in the Netherlands, picking up where he left off in Glasgow.
By Van Bronckhorst’s own admission, Rangers wanted to sign Tillman on a permanent basis before Bayern scuppered those hopes. PSV may soon be seeing history repeat itself.
“He does things that not every player can do, and always has an eye for his fellow players. He turns well, frees himself up, then passes the ball quickly,” says Ibrahim Afellay, the one-time PSV, Stoke City and Barcelona winger.
“Then, he keeps control and accelerates again. What he shows is really impressive.
“Sometimes he still seems a bit laconic. It seems like he doesn’t care about anything. But he has so much quality, he really is a boy with a lot of potential. I sincerely hope that PSV will soon exercise the purchase option for Tillman.”
