Daniel Feliciano

Mon 27 February 2023 17:10, UK

Rangers scouts were present to watch the Athens derby between Panathinaikos and Olympiacos to watch a trio of players, according to journalist Georgios Sideridis.

While the two Old Firm clubs were clashing at Hampden Park in the Viaplay Cup final, there were scouts from both clubs present in Athens to watch the big game with three players in particular on the agenda.

Panathinaikos central defensive midfielder Dimitris Kourbelis was one target, as was his teammate and forward Fotis Ioannidis, while on the opposite team was In-Beom Hwang who plays as a central midfielder.

“Celtic and Rangers scouts watched the Athens derby between Olympiacos and Panathinaikos,” he wrote on his personal Twitter account (27 February).

“They watched Panathinaikos’ Dimitris Kourbelis and Fotis Ioannidis and Olympiacos’ In-Beom Hwang.”

Bolstering

Rangers need to bring in reinforcements in the summer, but we need players who are definitely good enough to make a difference.

Playing in Greece is not the highest level, but we’ve seen from Celtic that bringing players in from lesser leagues can make the squad stronger and if Beale has identified these players to make us stronger then we back him.

All three players are full internationals, with In-Beom Hwang playing over 40 times for South Korea while Kourbelis and Ioannidis have played 30 times and 4 times respectively for the Greece national team too.

They obviously have good experience and won’t be too expensive, and Beale’s additions so far have been for a reason.

There are likely to be several players leaving in the summer with so many older players and some out of contract, so Beale will want his own flavour on the squad and this could be the start of it for him.

In other Rangers news, an official club partner has said that Michael Beale “blew it” at the Viaplay Cup final.