Croatian outfit HNK Rijeka expect Matija Frigan to leave this summer with the striker one of a number on the radar of Scottish Premiership giants Rangers.
Late last month, Rangers manager Mick Beale highlighted the attributes he would be looking for when scouring the market for his new number nine.
“When we play in Europe or big games here, every player must take part in every minute of the game,” Beale told the Daily Record. “I like forwards who aren’t just in one position. They interchange, move around and have freedom on the pitch.
“That is a big thing for me. I want energy, I want speed, I want to see personality in a centre-forward. If you want to be a number nine for Rangers, you need to have that.”
Is Matija Frigan going to be Rangers’ new striker?
How many of those boxes does Matija Frigan tick?
He’s certainly a goalscorer; 15 in 31 games for Rijeka last term despite only turning 20 in February. At 6ft 1ins, meanwhile, Frigan is strong, physical and mobile. He leads the line well, but is not afraid to drop deep and link the play with his back to goal, in a manner reminiscent of Alfredo Morelos at his Europa League-dominating peak.
Frigan is one of a number of strikers reportedly on Rangers’ radar, and – though the sample size is still small – he seems a more-than decent fit.
“There is the most interest in Frigan. He is our most valuable player on the market,” Rijeka’s sporting director Darko Raic Sudar tells Novilist.
“He is young, received a pre-call-up for the national team and will play at the U21 Euros. Two or three official offers came, but none of them satisfied us.”
Frigan is reportedly valued around the £5 million mark. Sudar backs up claims made by Rijeka’s head coach that the Croatia U21 international already has ‘many offers’ on his plate, with Rangers facing competition from the likes of Dinamo Zagreb.
“We all think that Frigan will leave,” Sudar adds. “He may leave in a month or two, but he doesn’t have to. Why not stay another year in Rijeka and do even better things?
