It is no coincidence that Rangers, since hiring Nils Koppen as their director of recruitment, have made a concerted push for players with an Eredivisie background.
Koppen, after all, spent six years a scout at PSV Eindhoven.
During that time, he will have watched Vaclav Cerny tear the Dutch top-flight apart with FC Twente. He will also have witnessed Robin Propper develop into one of the Eredivisie’s most reliable centre-halves.
Rangers are expected to complete the signing of Neraysho Kasanwirjo before the clock strikes eleven on Friday night too. The versatile defender made his name at Groningen before joining PSV’s title rivals Feyenoord for a fee of £1.5 million in January 2023.
So while ‘what you know’ is obviously the most important thing in recruitment, ‘who you know’ can also come in very handy, Rangers making excellent use of Koppen’s Dutch football connections.
Scott Wright joins Birmingham City from Rangers
South of the border, Chris Davies appears to be doing something similar at Birmingham City.
An assistant coach to Brendan Rodgers and Ange Postecoglou during a seven-year stint at Celtic, Davies is now the head coach of an ambitious Birmingham outfit.
He has brought with him Marc Leonard – one-time Rangers youngster and former Hearts midfielder – while Ben Davies and Scott Wright join from Ibrox.
Tomoki Iwata is now set to follow in the former Hoops coach’s footsteps, arriving at St Andrews from Celtic.
During his deadline day press conference, the Blues boss would not be drawn on those Iwata links. But he did open up on the deal which brought Wright to the Midlands, keen to work alongside a winger who first captured his attention at Aberdeen.
“He is fast, direct has good experience of playing the game at a club with high expectations in Rangers and all the pressures that come with that,” Davies says, via Birmingham’s official YouTube channel. “I was aware of him when I was up in Scotland
“He came through at Aberdeen and I remember he kind of caught my eye even back then. He’s gone to Rangers, and he’s done well, he’s had some some big moments for the club and one particularly successful season.”
Todd Cantwell perhaps the next to leave Ibrox
Wright leaves Rangers for a reported £300,000.
The Aberdeen-born attacker swapped Pittodrie for Ibrox back in January 2021. And while he started brightly – seven goals in his first full season and an extra-time decider in the Scottish Cup final against Hearts a year later – Wright would slip down the pecking order as concerns grew other his diminishing end product.
When it came to leave Rangers, the former Scotland Under 21 international had arguably become Philippe Clement’s third-choice right-winger behind the aforementioned Cerny and the exciting Ross McCausland.
Davies, meanwhile, is hoping that an escape from the Glasgow goldfish bowl will do both Wright and centre-back Davies the world of good.
“This is his first time in England, so he’s going to really want to attack this challenge with everything he has,” adds the 39-year-old tactician. “He’s hungry to to show what he can do.
“He’s a hard working and honest player that has speed and can be a threat in the wide area.”
Rangers could also move on Todd Cantwell before the window closes, with Blackburn Rovers closing in. Dynamic £5 million Sassuolo attacker Nedim Bajrami may arrive as Cantwell’s succesor.
