Of all the mangers in Rangers’ modern history – from Steven Gerrard to Mick Beale, from Pedro Caixinha to Mark Warburton – Giovanni van Bronckhorst perhaps has the most reason to wonder what might have been.
Speaking last week, as Borussia Dortmund put their domestic deficiencies to one side while knocking Paris Saint-Germain out of the Champions League at the quarter-final stage, the ex-Ibrox boss spoke openly about his attempts to lure Ian Maatsen to Rangers.
“He was still on my list for Rangers. I was very charmed by him to bring him to Rangers,” Van Bronckhorst recalls, Maatsen now on loan at Dortmund from Chelsea with a £30 million purchase clause in his contract.
“That didn’t work out in the end. But he is a player with a lot of drive, who always looks forward and is also becoming stronger defensively. He scores goals and that is certainly very nice to watch.”
Van Bronckhorst, via his detailed knowledge of Dutch football, reportedly wanted Crysencio Summerville during the summer of 2022 too. Two years on, Summerville is the Championship’s newly-crowned Player of the Year, scoring or assisting 30 goals from the wing at Leeds United.
Then there’s Danilo Doekhi; a centre-half who played Champions League football for Union Berlin against Real Madrid and Napoli this season, and could come in very handy these days in an ageing and unconvincing Gers backline.
Rangers wanted Xavi Simons in 2022
Perhaps Van Bronckhorst’s greatest regret, however, is that Rangers did not manage to snap up Xavi Simons. AS reported that the former Feyenoord boss was desperate to bring in Simons shortly before he join bd PSV Eindhoven on loan from Paris Saint-Germain a couple of summers ago.
And the silky Netherlands international’s career has been on an almost uninterrupted upwards trajectory ever since. After winning the Eredivisie’s Golden Boot award in 2022/23, Simons has made the step up to the German Bundesliga like the proverbial duck to water.
Nine goals and 15 assists is a very impressive return from a younger playing his first season in a major European league. One can only imagine what sort of havoc Simons – all drive, dexterity and devilry – might have wreaked on Scottish soil.
“I think it is obvious that he will end up at the top,” Dutch reporter Valentijn Driessen tells De Telegraaf. “He has an awful lot of qualities. This is a player who has the potential to reach the level of (Arjen) Robben and (Robin) Van Persie.”
A devastating creative force, Simons is rapidly developing into an elite attacking midfielder. Not only capable of carving apart opposition backlines at a moments’ notice, the Amsterdam-born 21-year-old is already putting together quite the collection of sublime finishes of his own.
A return to Barcelona mooted for PSG starlet
As you might imagine, given his forename, Xavi has a Barcelona connection.
And, having started his career in Barca’s fabled La Masia academy, ESPN reports that the PSG whizzkid – the one named after the Blaugrana’s current head coach – has been targeted for a return to the Camp Nou, though Barcelona may have to pull a few of those financial levers to meet the French champions £50 million-plus asking price (90Min).
“Seeing Xavi Simons play has been fantastic,” said Ruud van Nistelrooy, his coach at PSV. “It’s incredible that he plays like that at that age. How strong he is mentally, how much he helps us under pressure, how important he is offensively…”
The eventual arrival of Malik Tillman at Rangers, potentially in the Simons was earmarked to occupy, at least offered some consolation for Van Bronckhorst.
But there are levels to this game. And, while Tillman earned himself a £12 million permanent move to PSV last week after another fine loan spell, Simons outgrew the Eredivisie a long time ago. The German Bundesliga seemingly a stepping stone on his path to the very top of the game.
