Charlie Adam shares what he told Gerrard about player before Rangers made £2.2m signing
Ex-Rangers star Charlie Adam has shared a discussion he had with Steven Gerrard ahead of Borna Barisic signing from Osijek in 2018 after seeing him play at Ibrox in a Europa League qualifier.
Barisic, 28, joined the Light Blues just over two years ago in a deal reportedly worth £2.2million and has since nailed down his spot as Gerrard’s starting left-back while also regularly getting into the Croatia national squad.
While Adam told Gerrard he was impressed by the Croatian left-back, the Rangers manager told the ex-Ibrox midfielder that he’d already made an offer before the Europa League qualifiers in 2018.
“I understand the Mark Allen era saw the manager come in and obviously some of the players brought in have left now but Barisic… I remember having the conversation with the manager about Barisic after the game against Osijek,” Adam told PLZ Soccer’s Football Show.
“I said to the manager after the game: ‘By the way, the left-back’s a good player’.
“He said: ‘We’ve already got a bid in’. So they have already bought the player before the game at home at Ibrox and then two days later, the deal was done.
“They know what they want. They know what they need. I think that’s the difference now.
“Celtic have been good at it for years, bringing little gems in where they get them cheap and sell them on for big profit.
“If you look at Rangers now, you can reel off seven, eight, maybe nine players who are big assets to the football club.”
Barisic is one of the first names on the teamsheet at Ibrox – and for good reason.
The 28-year-old has scored one goal and supplied seven assists in 19 appearances across all competitions and while it’s right-back James Tavernier who earns most of the plaudits, there’s no denying the left-back is just as crucial to Rangers’ astonishingly good form.
According to stats by WyScout, Ryan Christie [3.72] is the only player with a higher xA (expected assists) figure than Barisic this season [3.66] in the Scottish Premiership.
The left-back has attempted more crosses than any player in the top-flight [94] and also has the best accuracy [44.68].
Barisic doesn’t get enough praise in our opinion – although every Rangers fan knows that he is easily the best left-back in Scottish football.
He’s come a long way since his move from Osijek in 2018 and we hope he’s able to stay at Ibrox for the foreseeable future.
In other Rangers news, the Gers have been tipped to sign a new number nine in January by an ex-Celtic player.