Jason Jones

Mon 6 April 2020 18:24, UK

RANGERS OPINION 

For a long while in January, there was genuine confusion as to who would be leading the line for Rangers during the second half of the season. 

With Alfredo Morelos courting interest from a number of high profile sources, as per Football Insider, and with the general consensus being that another forward was needed in some capacity, speculation was rife as to where Steven Gerrard would turn.

As we now know, Morelos ended up staying put at Ibrox, and reinforcements were brought in in the shape of Hibernian loanee Florian Kamberi.

But things could have been very different had Gerrard managed to land another apparent target.

According to Milutin Sredojevic, former manager of Egyptian side Zamalek, the Gers boss rang him personally to get the lowdown on 22-year-old striker Mostafa Mohamed, and was very keen to get a deal over the line for the hitman.

Now, as already examined by Ibrox News, the forward’s stats are inferior to Kamberi’s in pretty much every sense – except for his goals per game ratio – perhaps suggesting that the Gers had a lucky escape.

But with the spectre of Morelos’ potential exit still looming large over Ibrox this summer, there is every chance that Gerrard will have to find an out and out goalscorer at some point in the relatively near future.

So, could Mohamed be that man?

A closer look at his game shows some promising signs.

Granted, he hasn’t scored in his past five outings for Zamalek, but his last goal before then was something special.

In the image above, as per Wyscout, you can see just how far out Mohamed was when he took his shot on goal.

Moreover, he had ran quite some distance before then, showing power and directness that would no doubt go down a storm in Scotland.

Look where his effort ends up too.

The ball could hardly be an closer to that top corner, and it is travelling at a ridiculous speed.

There’s a lot more to Mohamed than scoring screamers from mind-boggling distances though.

At the beginning of January he went on a run of three goals in three games, with one – pictured above – showing some of his other eye-catching qualities.

Pictured running off the shoulder of the central defender, notice how early Mohamed reads the intention of his teammate to turn on his heels and get in behind the defence.

His positional intelligence is impressive, but the finish is even more so.

Running onto the ball, Mohamed shows great composure, poise, and skill to flick the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper with the outside of his right boot and into the far corner.

It’s a beautifully deft finish that shows a more nuanced side to his game, and is arguably just as exciting as his most recent strike.

All in all, while his numbers may not be the most dazzling, there is a lot evidence to suggest that Mohamed is a big, big talent, and if Gerrard is in the market for a striker, maybe he could be the man to fit the bill.

In other Rangers news, Ibrox View: Gerrard must pounce on Euro club mistake to land major Gers coup.