Rangers have to get their recruitment right this summer, the gap to Celtic means that there is no margin for mistakes and the need to qualify for the Champions League is even bigger.
The agreed takeover by the San Francisco 49ers is keeping fans going with the club already securing transfer guarantees should the deal go ahead.
One area that the Rangers squad is already short of depth is on the wing and it will be a priority position for Nils Koppen when he gets his shopping list out.
Whoever replaces Barry Ferguson as Rangers manager shouldn’t have to bring their own list with them and if a deal to sign Vaclav Cerny on a permanent basis can ‘t be agreed, an alternative needs to be found.
The recruitment team that is based at Auchenhowie is using a more data led approach to scouting and identifying players and this is how the Czechia international’s replacement might be secured.
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Who should Rangers target to replace Vaclav Cerny?
Using Data MB’s comparison model, Cerny, unsurprisingly, performs well across almost every metric.
Selecting players under-23 and form from the current season, some interesting names are thrown up – most of which would be too expensive.
Malmo’s Hugo Bolin wouldn’t be though as his contract with the Swedish champions expires in 2026 and now could be the time to make a move.
Shopping on a budget, contract status becomes a major filter when Rangers are assessing potential targets given the increased bargaining power.
What sort of player is Bolin?
The 21-year old is quick, confident, capable of driving to the by-line or cutting inside, but most of all, has the sort of close control and quick feet that could come in very useful against low block teams.
His dribbling is clearly his strongest asset which leads to him winning a lot of free-kicks and creating space for others.
Something that Rangers have lacked in recent seasons.
With 10 league goals in 25 games, Bolin played a key role in Malmo’s title win and looks ready to take the next step in his career.
Celtic signed Nicolas Khun and Jota off the back of seasons that didn’t look that impressive because the underlying numbers were good and suggested that they were a good fit stylistically, this summer could see Rangers do something similar.
