It’s all gone a bit quiet at Rangers recently, hasn’t it? Russell Martin was unveiled as the new manager a week ago but, since then, very little to report from Ibrox, with supporters eager to see a new signing or two through the door.
On Tuesday, Rangers will learn the identity of their first opponents of the Martin era, with a Champions League second round qualifier to come, a tie coming up as soon as 22/23 July.
Needing to act fast in the transfer market, could the Gers be about to make a big splash?
Rangers targeting a new midfielder
A range of youth and experience could be targeted by the new manager this summer. Jamie Vardy has already been touted with a move to Ibrox, but he’s not the only Premier League stalwart in the club’s crosshairs.
According to a report by Mick Brown of Football Insider, Rangers are ‘considering’ a move to sign midfielder Christian Eriksen this summer, believing he could ‘play an orchestrating role’.
The 33-year-old is a free agent, having left Manchester United following the expiration of his contract, but still showed his quality in a Denmark shirt this week, scoring against both Northern Ireland in Parken and then Lithuania in Odense during friendly victories for de Rød-Hvide.
So, despite his age, data analyst David O’Brien believes Eriksen is still a “world-class playmaker”, so signing him would represent a massive coup for Rangers, albeit salary could be a stumbling block, considering he was earning £150k-per-week at Manchester United, according to Capology.
Nevertheless, his arrival would get the Ibrox faithful excited, especially considering he would be reminiscent of a fans’ favourite from yesteryear.
How Eriksen could emulate Brian Laudrup at Rangers
A certain Brian Laudrup joined Rangers from Fiorentina for £2.3m in the summer of 1994, and this was certainly a solid investment, widely considered to be amongst Rangers’ greatest players of modern times, as well as one of their most ‘gifted and talented entertainers’.
Eriksen’s fellow countryman, who had won the European Championship against all odds two years earlier, played 150 times for the Light Blues, scoring 44 goals, winning three league titles, the Scottish Cup, a League Cup and was named SFWA Footballer of the Year twice, before being inducted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame in 2006.
Derek Clark of the Rangers Review labels Laudrup the greatest ever player to grace Scottish football, while Craig Williams of Football Scotland outlines how the ‘special’ Denmark international is a bona fide club legend.
So, could Eriksen have a similar impact to that of his compatriot?
Well, at his best, Adam Smith of Sky Sports argued that Eriksen was the ‘Premier League’s best creative midfielder’, while Duncan Alexander of Opta’s the Analyst agrees, labelling him ‘one of the most effective attacking midfielders’ in Premier League history having racked up 81 assists in the competition’s history.
Premier League
310
55
81
Champions League
53
7
14
Europa League
55
10
14
FA & EFL Cups
41
11
12
Denmark national team
144
46
34
Having made 649 club appearances for Ajax, Tottenham, Inter, Brentford and Manchester United, Eriksen does boast serious pedigree, just as Laudrup did.
However, at 33 years old, there could be concerns that he is over the hill. Well, let’s assess his statistics from this season to find out if that is the case.
Minutes
1,737
16th
Goals
5
7th
Assists
5
5th
Goals – xG
+1
3rd
Goals per shot
0.15
4th
Progressive passes
77
9th
Key passes
47
4th
Shot-creating actions
84
6th
Goal-creating actions
12
4th
As the table outlines, despite only featuring in 31.6% of Manchester United’s total minutes this season, Eriksen was actually one of their most-impressive performers, ranking highly for goals and assists, as well as metrics relating to chance creation, passing and shooting accuracy.
Following the Red Devils’ victory over Aston Villa on the final day of the Premier League season, Eriksen said about his future “we’ll see”, adding “there’s options” but nothing has been decided just yet, possibly opening the door to a move to Glasgow.
It’s certainly ambitious, but Rangers do have a history when it comes to recruiting Great Danes, and Eriksen would certainly make an impact, should he choose to make the move to Govan.
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