Celtic may have extended their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership table to 13 points last weekend but, in the battle to sign one of the Bundesliga’s brightest young midfielders, it may be Old Firm rivals Rangers who have the edge.
According to German publication BILD, clubs in England, France and, yes, Scotland are all making moves for Koln’s Denis Huseinbasic ahead of the summer transfer window. Both Celtic and Rangers are among them.
The allure of Celtic is, even to the most hard-nosed Rangers supporter, difficult to play down. In Ange Postecoglou, the Hoops have a coach renowned for turning potential into something more concrete. Celtic can offer almost guaranteed silverware too.
But what many would consider to be a Rangers weakness – their lack of high-quality squad depth – could actually work to their advantage if Mick Beale and co opt to step up their interest in Huseinbasic.
Rangers face Celtic battle to sign Denis Huseinbasic
The Germany U21 international has made the step up from the fourth-tier to the Bundesliga look impressively straightforward at times; scoring three times in his debut top-flight campaign. On the other hand, he has not started a single match since being subbed off at half-time during a 3-0 thumping by Stuttgart eight matchdays ago.
“He went from the fourth league directly to the first league and started playing,” explains Zvjezdan Misimovic, who still hopes to convince Huseinbasic to represent Bosnia and Herzagovina – rather than Germany – at international level
“That’s a big jump in his career. Right now, he’s in a slump. He hasn’t played for the last five or six weeks.”
At Celtic, 21-year-old Huseinbasic would have to compete with Callum McGregor, Reo Hatate, Matt O’Riley and Aaron Mooy. David Turnbull, James McCarthy, Tomoki Iwata and potentially Rocco Vita too.
At Rangers, the competition will not be anywhere near as fierce. Especially if Ryan Jack, Steven Davis and Scott Arfield all leave Ibrox when their contracts expire in July. There is a place alongside January recruit Nicolas Raskin up for grabs in Mick Beale’s XI. And Husenbasic, a technically-gifted yet combative midfield player, could fill that role nicely.
Another Malik Tillman at Ibrox?
And while Celtic may be famous for their excellent record in the youth development department, Huseinbasic need only look at another Bundesliga prospect – Malik Tillman – to realise that Ibrox too is fertile breeding ground for a prodigious talent looking to play regular first-team, top-flight football for the first time in his career.
“I came here to play as many games as I can,” the Bayern Munich loanee smiled back in December. “I love the club and everything around it. So we will see what will happen in the summer (regarding a permanent transfer).”
Huseinbasic has started only seven league games in 2021/22. If he hopes to improve that tally significantly next term, a Rangers side looking ahead to an extensive summer overhaul may be one club capable of offering the chance to do exactly that.
