Rangers have lined up a Champions League Playoff clash with PSV Eindhoven after dispatching Union Saint Gilloise – with a familiar face in Joey Veerman set to visit Ibrox.
The Gers overturned a two goal deficit against the Belgian Pro League side with a 3-0 win on the night at Ibrox which also banks the club a cool £4m.
But as the dust settles on yet another famous Ibrox victory – this the first time in Rangers’ 150 years that the club has hauled back such a disadvantage in Europe – attention will turn to Ruud van Nistelrooy’s PSV.
The legendary Dutch striker is a former Netherlands teammate of Rangers boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst and the Ibrox coach is relishing a return to his homeland for a place in Europe’s elite competition.
But if Rangers are to make the Champions League they will need to overcome a talent-strewn PSV squad who’ve just overcame the bankrolled AS Monaco in QR3.
Rangers-linked Joey Veerman set for PSV Champions League visit
At the centre of everything is 23-year-old Netherlands midfielder Joey Veerman who has emerged as a key player in this PSV Eindhoven team since moving to the club in January.
The midfielder scored in both legs – netting PSV’s only goal in the 1-1 draw in France and then the opening goal in the eventual 3-2 AET win in Eindhoven.
But things might’ve been so different if Rangers had coughed up the money in the summer of 2021 with Veerman reportedly Steven Gerrard’s major target last summer.
Rangers were extensively linked with a £7m move for the midfielder during his time at Heerenveen but for whatever reason the Ibrox side didn’t move before crashing out of the Champions League qualifiers.
A lack of fresh investment in the squad was then derided by Steven Gerrard after the defeat to Malmo and in the aftermath of his move to Aston Villa there have been soundbites regarding the same.
There’s a feeling things might’ve been very different last season if Rangers had pushed the boat out to secure Joey Veerman but the links were before the big-money, high-profile sales of Nathan Patterson, Joe Aribo and Calvin Bassey.
Joey Veerman would then move to PSV for a reportedly reduced fee of £5m in January and the Dutchman has gone from strength-to-strength at the Phillips Stadion.
A free-scoring, attacking midfielder, in only 28 games for PSV the ex-Voldendam star has eight goals and eight assists and when you look at this Rangers team that’s a contribution which plenty believe wouldn’t go amiss at Ibrox.
Now surely eyeing a place in a competitive Netherlands squad at Qatar 2022, there’s a painful poetry to the notion Joey Veerman could be the man to damage Rangers’ Champions League dream with PSV.
Speaking of Rangers transfer links, one Gers-linked player has made a £4.1m move elsewhere.
