As they combined to put Rangers out of reach against Dundee, the burgeoning partnership between Nedim Bajrami and Cyriel Dessers had the Ibrox faithful watering at the mouth.
With Philippe Clement’s side already two to the good, the former raced down the left and fizzed an inch-perfect cross into the latter’s path.
It was a chance a centre-forward in such fine form – Cyriel Dessers glowing in his praise for Rangers newbie Nedim Bajrami at full-time and already striking up quite the understanding with the £3.5 million deadline day arrival – really couldn’t miss.
Now, Bajrami is no stranger to fast starts.
The Albania international scored the quickest goal in the history of the European Championships this summer, after all. And, though Bajrami prefers the number ten role, the pace and creativity he brought to Rangers when positioned wide on the left quickly justified the clamour that surrounded his arrival.
Dessers, meanwhile, now has seven goals in nine games so far in 2024/25.
At the current rate, he is outscoring one of the most prolific hitmen in all of European football. Though Robert Lewandowski is quickly closing in, hitting a brace of his own as Barcelona hammered Villarreal 5-1 on Sunday.
Rangers missed the chance with Barcelona’s Pablo Torre
As the Bayern Munich legend opened the scoring on the Castellon coast, the man who played the Bajrami role in the build-up may have been a name strangely familiar to any watching Rangers supporters.
Rangers scouted Pablo Torre Rangers back in 2021, after all.
Now, the League Cup semi-finalists have their fair share of ‘ones that got away’. Albert Gudmundsson, Joey Veerman and Andreas Skov Olsen, to name but three.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst admits Rangers wanted Ian Maatsen too before he played in a Champions League final for Borussia Dortmund and made a £37 million move to Aston Villa.
Torre, like Gudmundsson and Veerman, was linked with a move to Scotland when still available at the sort of fee Rangers were in a position to pay. Then at Racing Santander in Spain’s second tier, Torre was valued at £4 million.
That was the sum Barcelona paid a few months later, anyway.
And, after helping Girona qualify for the Champions League during a loan spell last term, Torre is finally starting to show the Barca fans why legendary playmaker and former boss Xavi Hernandez labelled him a ‘natural talent’ with the potential to become a ‘great signing’.
Torre slipped in Lewandowski to open the scoring at Villarreal with a perfectly weighted through ball. Girona boss Michel said Torre was one of ‘the best in the world’ when drifting between the lines and picking passes. This was a display to highlight such talents.
As smooth as silk but with a hammer of a left foot too, the 21-year-old then span on a sixpence midway through the second half and fired in only a second-ever Barcelona goal.
Nedim Bajrami could be the Torre-like creator Rangers need
Given the issues Rangers have had in recent times with regards to their carousel of ever-changing number tens – Ianis Hagi exiled, Todd Cantwell binned, and Tom Lawrence claiming the starting spot almost by default – Torre’s breakout performance in a Barca shirt was a reminder of what Rangers could have had.
To think, Barcelona paid for Torre only ever-so-slightly more than Rangers invested in Sam Lammers. Another of those who came and went without nailing down that number ten role in the royal blue shirt.
“I think I can be much better,” Torre said post-match, a few more opportunities likely to come his way now with Dani Olmo injured. “But, in the end, I’m happy with the minutes I’ve played. Playing for Barca is a dream and I’m happy.”
While Barcelona continue to cruise at the summit of Spanish football, back in Glasgow there is a growing feel-good factor enveloping Rangers’ squad too.
Three successive wins. Three successive clean sheets. And with a semi-final to look forward to now as well.
And while Rangers might have missed the boat for Pablo Torre, while the number ten role remains a dilemma Clement must solve, the early signs suggest that Nedim Bajrami can at least provide the vision and guile Dessers needs to continue keeping the pace with Lewandowski and Europe’s top number nines.
