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Ross Wilson handed boost in Rangers pursuit of Malik Tillman after Bayern Munich transfer news
Rangers sporting director Ross Wilson will be counting his lucky stars that new Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel could be lining up a move to sign Chelsea midfielder Matteo Kovacic this summer.
The former Blues boss, who took over at the German giants from Julian Nagelsmann, is “ready to bet” on a reunion with Kovacic and Eduoard Mendy as part of a “revolution” in Munich this summer, according to Calciomercato (24 March).
And Wilson will hope that such a move will, in turn, leave the Gers in a pole position to secure the permanent signing of influential midfielder Malik Tillman at the end of the season.
Rangers reportedly will have to pay £6.2million to make the Tillman deal permanent, and Michael Beale has already made his ambitions clear that he wants to sign the 20-year-old USA international.
The playmaker signed on an initial season-long loan with an option to buy, but after impressing in his debut season in Scottish football, it would be hard to find a member of the Ibrox faithful who wouldn’t want the deal to be secured.
Tillman has scored eight goals and four assists from 24 appearances this season, including a strong vein of form during the otherwise disappointing closing weeks of Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s reign as manager at the Glasgow club.
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However, money remains an issue for Rangers, with Christian Falk reporting (17 February) that it remains unclear if the club could afford to sign the midfielder in the summer.
But if Ross Wilson can summon the money to make this move permanent, it can be seen as nothing short of a masterstroke.
Tillman is clearly an asset which is only going to rise in value over time, with the realms of a £25-30million player by no means out of reach – whilst keeping him at Ibrox will only help to close the gap to fierce rivals Celtic.
Wilson and Rangers will be hoping that Tuchel does trigger a summer move for Kovacic, and this, in turn, free’s up the opportunity to make Tillman a permanent fixture within the walls of Ibrox.