The capture of Sam Lammers, albeit not officially confirmed yet by Rangers, and ditto the closing in on Cyriel Dessers, might make Ibrox supporters wonder ‘what now’ for Antonio Colak.
The Croat hitman, on fire till ‘the big three’ last season then injury, has found himself down the pecking order in Govan under manager Michael Beale, who favoured the departed Alfredo Morelos over the former Malmo striker from the beginning of his tenure in November.
One might have felt the Colombian’s exit was a sign that Colak would be getting a second chance, and indeed his cameo on the final day of the season showed promise that he could indeed fit into Michael Beale’s system and still score.
But naturally, when fans see the manager potentially bringing in two new strikers, the reaction is to question the future of the existing player.
In reality, the signing of two new front men doesn’t have to mean anything to Colak – the reality is we just lost two significant attackers in Morelos and now-Fenerbahce winger Ryan Kent, and those were heavy hitters, regardless of form.
They definitely required replacing.
And just because we’ve likely added some (hopefully) quality to the Rangers squad doesn’t necessarily mean the end for the Croatian.
Indeed, if what we’re understanding is accurate, Lammers is being seen as a kind of 10, which would mean Dessers, if we snap him up too, would be our only pure hitman if Colak moved on. And that’s not enough.
A club of Rangers’ standing needs two, maybe three strikers. Fashion Sakala is unreliable at best and he’s short of the level needed to deliver at the standard Rangers need while we can’t rely on Kemar Roofe’s fitness – ergo adding Lammers and Dessers doesn’t necessarily impact Colak at all.
It is the logic of the football fan to whine the club isn’t making enough signings, and when it does, whine about ‘whose place is he going to take’ or ‘what about xxx player’. ‘Cake and eat it’ comes to mind.
No, a club Rangers’ size deserves lots of quality competition and a strong squad with lots of options for the manager.
If we’re to make a fist of 56 this season and not humiliate ourselves in the Champions League, we need better than Alfredo Morelos (who was a shambles in the UCL incidentally) and James Sands to stand a chance.
And getting in top-heavy talent to provide strength in depth is no bad start to that.