What will Russell Martin’s centre-forward options at Rangers look like by the time the transfer window closes?
It was Danilo who started and scored during Tuesday’s catastrophic Champions League first leg defeat against Club Brugge, with Hamza Igamane only deemed fit enough for a cameo off the bench, while Cyriel Dessers, who had been starting recently, missed out altogether.
However, both Igamane and Dessers continue to be strongly linked with moves away, as they have been all throughout the summer, with Rangers rejecting a bid for the former from Lille earlier this week, so they may still need to go into the market for a new centre-forward in the next week or so.
Thus, should the Light Blues target a star recently heralded as the best striker in the division?
Rangers' pursuit of Jamie Vardy
Rangers’ interest in Jamie Vardy has been well publicised all summer long, at one stage it appeared as though the move was likely to happen, but that is not the case anymore.
In fact, as of this week, the 38-year-old appears more likely to end up on the other side of Glasgow, with reports suggesting that the England international ‘would love’ to join Celtic, adding that he has ‘his heart set’ on a move to Parkhead, thereby reuniting with former manager Brendan Rodgers.
However, suggestions since then indicate that not just Celtic, but Rangers have also made an approach to sign the veteran striker.
Considering Vardy scored exactly 200 goals in 500 appearances for Leicester, bagging nine in the Premier League for one of the division’s worst sides last season, he would undoubtedly score plenty at Premiership level, especially should he end up at one of Glasgow’s big two.
Nevertheless, with Vardy’s proposed move to Ibrox now appearing unlikely, should Rangers turn their attention to an alternative target?
How Rangers can forget about Vardy
Earlier this summer, it was reported that Rangers were interested in signing Girona striker Bojan Miovski.
The North Macedonian international striker first came to supporters’ attention when he joined Aberdeen from MTK Budapest three summers ago, making a huge impact at Pittodrie.
In two seasons with the Dons, he scored 44 goals in 98 appearances, including netting four times in seven European outings, while also scoring three times against Celtic and on four occasions against Rangers.
The table below underlines his impact in the Premiership.
Statistics
Miovski
SPFL rank
Goals
16
4th
Shots
104
3rd
Shots on target
43
3rd
Big chances missed
16
3rd
2022/23 season:
Goals
16
4th
Shots
69
13th
Shots on target
35
7th
Big chances missed
15
3rd
As the table documents, across his two seasons in the Premiership, Miovski’s statistics were consistently impressive, which is certainly a noteworthy feat for a striker not playing for an Old Firm team.
Then-teammate Nicky Devlin labelled him “the best player in the league in his position”, form that earned the North Macedonian a £7m move to Girona last summer, which remains the Reds’ record sale.
This move was in preparation for the Blanquivermells’ first-ever Champions League campaign, but the last 12 months have not gone to plan for the player of the club, with Girona only avoiding relegation from La Liga by a solitary point last season.
Miovski, for his part, scored just four goals last season, two of which came against fifth-tier Extremadura in the Copa del Rey, albeit he was given limited opportunities, starting just 12 La Liga matches.
He was in the lineup for Girona’s opener last Friday night, but was replaced on the cusp of half time by back-up goalkeeper Vladyslav Krapyvtsov, sacrificed after Paulo Gazzaniga’s calamitous red card.
Thus, it would not be a stretch to suggest Girona would be open to selling Miovski this summer, so should Rangers make a move?
Well, Miovski has proven he can score goals at Premiership level, one of only three non-Old Firm players to reach 16+ top division goals in back-to-back campaigns in the SPFL-era, alongside Lawrence Shankland and Adam Rooney.
Should he move to Rangers, the 26-year-old would get even greater opportunities to score, both in terms of quality and quantity, so would be the closest thing the Gers could secure to a guarantee of goals.