Credit: Imago

James Barker

Tue 2 June 2026 16:10, UK

Ryan Naderi posted some very encouraging underlying numbers for Rangers last season, suggesting he’s primed for a big leap in 2026-27.

Signing in the final hours of last season’s winter transfer window in a £4.7million move from Hansa Rostock, Naderi arrived at Ibrox to much fanfare.

Given the 22-year-old was coming from the German third division, supporters knew that time and patience was going to be required with him.

Naderi ended the 2025-26 campaign having scored three goals and providing one assist from 11 total appearances, which was a modest enough return for the young striker.

However, there is more to Naderi’s game than scoring goals, and when you peel back the curtain on his stats from last term, that becomes abundantly clear.

How good were Ryan Naderi’s underlying 2025-26 stats?

Naderi’s late-season injury was hugely frustrating for himself and Rangers, with the German really starting to come into form at the time of his April setback.

Indeed, he’d just scored his first Scottish Premiership goal against Dundee United, and had registered an assist against Aberdeen in the match prior respectively.

He wasn’t quite able to hit the ground running in Govan from a production standpoint, but the big forward offered plenty of glimpses into the player he could evolve into over the coming years.

As per FotMob, Naderi registered 1.37 shots on target per 90 in the Scottish Premiership last season, whilst also providing 0.20 assists and winning 3.92 aerial duels per game.

Naderi also ranked in the top 7.1 percentile of Scottish Premiership strikers for tackles won per game at 1.37, and placed in the leading 8.9 per cent for defensive contributions per game with 3.73 respectively.

Meanwhile, he registered an expected goals (xG) per game of 0.53 and put 1.18 headed shots on goal per 90, whilst Rangers had a 0.75 xG against when Naderi was on the pitch, showing how important he was defensively too.

How does Lawrence Shankland signing impact Naderi?

In what was already a crowded Rangers strike department with plenty of mouths for Danny Rohl to feed, adding Lawrence Shankland to the mix only adds to that.

Rohl surely won’t envision Youssef Chermiti or Shankland sitting on the Gers bench next season, so it looks likely he will deploy his side in a front two next term.

If that’s to be the case, then Naderi has to ensure he’s ahead of Bojan Miovski in the pecking order, as Gers certainly won’t want him as their fourth-choice striker after having forked out a considerable amount of money to sign him.

Time may be on Naderi’s side regarding his contract and age, but he may now need to accelerate his development if he doesn’t wish to be left behind in the race for Ibrox opportunities in attack.

Updated 24/7 with expert analysis from the heart of Govan.