Rangers join Manchester United and Dortmund as 39 clubs scout talents at under-21 international
Rangers joined the great and the good of European football in sending scouts to watch Denmark and Croatia face off in their under-21 international on Tuesday, TV2 reports.
Manchester United, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Roma, Newcastle and PSV were just a few of the 39 teams reportedly in attendance at the Velje Stadium (27 September) to see the Croatian side triumph on penalties in the European Championship play-off, after a 2-1 defeat on the night left the score at 3-3 on aggregate.
The Daily Record speculated on Wednesday that winger Mohamed Daramy may have been the target of the Gers interest due to Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s number two Dave Vos working with him previously at the Ajax academy.
But with clubs from nine different countries there it will be a heated battle for any of the targets performing on the night.
The likes of Midtjylland wide man Gustav Isaksen, Hajduk Split forward Stipe Biuk, and Red Bull Salzburg midfielder Maurits Kjaergaard are others who have draw attention of certain sides, and all were given a major audience this week.
Tough competition
Whoever the Light Blues are holding an interest in it is likely to be a heated battle from this point on, since anyone that they might have had their eye on that was going under the radar elsewhere will presumably have now been noticed by multiple other clubs.
Considering the hit and miss nature of the the transfer pursuits of late it is perhaps at least a positive sign that the Bears were in attendance at such a popular fixture, and as the sole Scottish representatives.
Rangers may not be able to compete with the likes of the Manchester heavyweights or the Bundesliga giants, but clubs further down those respective divisions, or in the likes of the Belgian and Danish leagues, are ones which Ross Wilson has to be capable of outmanoeuvring.
The Ibrox sporting director has come under fire in recent weeks as a decent start to the season evaporated with three heavy defeats in a row earlier this month.
That so many of the side which finished the title-winning campaign as important performers under Steven Gerrard two season’s ago were still starting the match against Napoli in the Champions League on 14 September suggest a club which isn’t seeking to improve itself adequately.
With the money that should have been brought in via sales and European football in the past year there was supposed be firepower to go out and land highly-rated players but, Antonio Colak and Malik Tillman aside, that has yet to prove the case from the summer haul.
Perhaps one of the youngsters such as 20-year-old Daramy could change that, with the young Dane mooted as a potential successor to Ryan Kent, but it will be a big ask in such a crowded field.
In other Rangers news, one recent transfer chase that wasn’t successful is exactly the reason why fans have questions for the board.