It is nearly a week now since reports suggested that Rangers were ‘very close’ to making a £5 million striker their latest signing of a busy transfer window at Ibrox.
Well, maybe it wasn’t that close after all.
Rangers, opening talks with the Rapid Bucharest forward a fortnight ago, may not be as far down the road as the rumours suggested, things going a little quiet over the last few days regarding Albion Rrahmani‘s potential arrival on the blue side of Glasgow.
Further doubts have arisen, too, via speculation suggesting Rangers are now hot on the heels of a number of alternative centre-forward targets.
Sources far closer to Ibrox, including the Daily Record, suggest that Philippe Clement’s side are closer to bringing in Hamza Igamame from RAF Rabat. A deeal potentially worth £3 million less than the fee Neil Lennon’s Rapid want for Rrahmani.
There is another familiar face to keep an eye on, too, in the shape of Petar Ratkov.
Rangers still chasing Serbia striker Petar Ratkov
Heavily linked with Rangers in the summer of 2023, Give Me Sport‘s Ben Jacobs report that the Red Bull Salzburg poacher remains high on the radar 12 months’ on.
Ratkov opted to follow in the footsteps of Erling Haaland and co when he enrolled in the Red Bull finishing school a year a back but, as yet, life at a taurine-powered club has not given him his wings.
Ratkov caught Rangers’ eye with 14 goals for Serbian outfit TSC in 2022/23 but managed only five in 33 Salzburg appearances. The Scottish Premiership runners-up are still keen, however, perhaps in the hope that an underwhelming debut season in Austria will leave Red Bull Salzburg open to a sale.
There is also interest from Leeds United, looking for an alternative to the increasingly injury-prone Patrick Bamford, and Salzburg’s Germany-based sister club RB Leipzig.
“(Ratkov’s big strengths are his) incredible anticipation and his understanding of the game. He reminds me of Edin Dzeko. He’s a real goalscorer,” a Serbian reporter who knows the 20-year-old well told Laola1.
“He always knows where he has to be, and he always knows where his team-mates are.
“His better foot is on the right, but he’s scored a lot of goals with his weaker left foot, which is a huge strength for a striker his age. It even made him the number one choice for free-kicks at TSC this season.”
Rangers want another striker
Ratkov, at 6ft 4ins, would give Rangers a different dimension in the final third. Clement has the hard-working Danilo and the aggressive Cyriel Dessers, but Ratkov’s height and agility could come in handy. Half of his Salzburg goals were scored with his head. As such, Ratkov may thrive with the service provided to him from out wide by James Tavernier, Ridvan Yilmaz, and new recruit Jefte Vital.
Speaking to Kicker, the one-time Serbia international prides himself upon his ‘pressing’ ability. That will be music to the ears of Clement, who wants his teams to defend from the front.
“Things have been going very well recently,” Ratkov said in the spring, having featured in the Champions League and scoring the Austrian Bundesliga’s fastest ever goal after just five seconds.
“But I know that I can still develop further.
“It was always a childhood dream of mine to play in the Champions League. Especially since I come from a relatively small country and a small league, it is not a given that I will ever play on this big stage. And it was great to be able to compete with such teams and players.
“I really enjoyed it and would like to experience it again.”
