Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s reign at Glasgow Rangers ended in a bit of a whimper, slipping behind in the chase for the Premiership title while losing every single one of their Champions League group stage ties too, and it perhaps wasn’t a surprise when he was sacked in November.
One of the few bright moments of the Dutchman’s reign was securing a loan move for Bayern Munich midfielder Malik Tillman, who has been a wonderful addition to the Gers squad this term.
Although joining on a season-long loan move, the Light Blues do have an option to buy the player for a fee of £6.2m, although Michael Beale has yet to decide his future.
The Ibrox side are enjoying a resurgence under Beale, losing just once since he took over in November and planning is already underway for next term, with Nicolas Raskin and Todd Cantwell arriving in January, and it is the latter who has been particularly impressive.
Now, he may well hold the key to Tillman’s future.
Will Rangers sign Malik Tillman permanently?
Under the Englishman, Tillman has scored six goals and grabbed two assists, operating in a more fluid role behind the lone striker with that seemingly playing to his strengths more.
Thinking ahead to the future, Beale could form an interesting dynamic with Cantwell and Tillman in the same side, with the pair already impressing a great deal in the previous few weeks.
Rangers Review journalist Joshua Barrie was excited at the prospect of Tillman playing in a more advanced role during Saturday's win over Motherwell, Tweeting: “Tillman’s eighth league goal of the season. Getting him playing alongside Cantwell going forwards is an exciting prospect.”
The 25-year-olds creative ability has been a breath of fresh air in what was a stagnant Rangers midfield. He is already averaging 1.3 key passes per game and has created two big chances while also succeeding with 65% of his dribble attempts.
Combine this with the American's eye for goal and ability to generate goal-scoring opportunities for teammates, having already created ten big chances, then it is a duo who could make up the future of this Rangers side.
Tillman has been dubbed “phenomenal” by Gers teammate John Lundstram, and although he is still a rough diamond, Beale has managed to utilise his strengths and got him to adapt to Scottish football extremely well.
If a deal can be struck with Bayern to sign the 20-year-old ahead of 2023/24, he and Cantwell could be a wonderful combination going forward.