Rangers have been accused of a snobbery as they missed out on several Scottish Premiership stars over the years.
Lewis Ferguson is the most obvious one after his move to Bologna from Aberdeen worked out way better than many could have imagined – and Ferguson is now being linked to clubs like AC Milan.
There have been others who have gone abroad after Rangers slept on the chance to sign them – like Max Johnston, Aaron Hickey and Josh Doig.
But the Bologna skipper is the biggest standout because of how well he has done but also because he was on the books at Ibrox as a youngster and is the son of former player Derek Ferguson and nephew of current boss Barry.
Gers are trying to address it with Lyall Cameron coming in the summer after signing a pre-contract to sign from Dundee.
Cameron has even been compared to Ferguson with hopes high he can show that when he becomes a Light Blues player.
But another former Premiership star will now be making Rangers chiefs wish they had acted.
Mika Biereth in red hot Monaco form
Mika Biereth had a productive loan spell at Motherwell from Arsenal, scoring six and assisting five from 15 appearances and really making the a better side when he was in it.
He was in demand after that and headed for a loan at Austrian giants Sturm Graz, becoming a teammate of fellow former Well star Johnston. The goals continued, finding the net five times in half a Bundesliga season.
Die Schwoazn moved quickly to sign the striker permanently last summer after the successful loan.
Biereth continued to develop and show how good a player he is in a side that took the early initiative in the title race, contributing 11 goals in 16 league games as well as two in the Champions League.
That form meant he lasted just half a season in Austria with French side Monaco splashing out an initial £10.8million (The Athletic) with potential for another £1.65m in add-ons.
And that has proved to be a very smart move from the Ligue 1 outfit.
Becoming a regular instantly, the 22-year-old scored in just his second game for Monaco before then hitting a hat-trick against Auxerre in the next outing.
After drawing a blank against Paris Saint-Germain, Biereth then made it two hat-tricks in three games by rattling in another in a 7-1 thumping of Nantes.
As if that wasn’t enough, he hit another treble in a victory over Stade Reims to make it three in five league games (seven in all competitions) and 10 in 10 in Monaco colours.
Rangers should have been looking at Biereth
Sturm Graz’s decision to take Biereth on loan after he impressed in the Premiership for Motherwell was a very smart one.
Within half a season they had made a very healthy profit on him.
That could’ve been Rangers and it’s another example of a foreign club stealing a Premiership star from under their noses.
Gers would surely have been in with a shout of signing him after his Fir Park spell and it was initially a loan, so not a massive outlay.
And even the £4m they spent on him last summer is just under the £4.3m paid for Mohamed Diomande and just over the £3.5m on Nedim Bajrami, so not out of reach.
