Rangers may live to regret parting ways with a player when Michael Beale was the first-team manager.
Viewed as the brains behind Steven Gerrard’s success at Ibrox, Beale was brought in to take over the reins from Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
However, his tenure at Rangers was not a successful one, and the hierarchy decided to part ways with him before he even finished a year at the club.
Mateusz Zukowski has transformed since his Rangers exit
Mateusz Zukowski moved to Ibrox at the end of the January transfer window in the 2021/22 Scottish Premiership campaign.
The Polish right-back signed a four-year deal with the Light Blues, and the expectation was that he would be a first-team regular.
Rangers paid £400,000 for his services, and a few weeks later, he made his senior debut in the Scottish Cup against Annan Athletic.
However, without giving him more than a single game, the Bears parted ways with him during Beale’s tenure as manager.
Now, the 24-year-old is plying his trade in German 2. Bundesliga side Magdeburg, who are, surprisingly, playing him as a striker.
He moved there in the summer and appears to be enjoying his life in Germany’s second tier.
The former Poland Under-21s international has played 10 games in all competitions, and has scored nine goals and provided an assist.
He recently scored a hat-trick in a thrilling 5-4 win over Greuther Furth.
What makes this feat even more impressive is the fact that he missed eight games at the start of the season due to a foot injury, but now appears to be in the form of his life.
Why did Zukowski struggle at Ibrox?
Gers roped in Zukowski to serve as James Tavernier’s understudy following Nathan Patterson’s big-money sale to Everton.
The expectation was that he would ease the burden on the captain, who was struggling to maintain consistency after playing 90 minutes week in and week out.
However, with the Polish full-back getting just one senior appearance and none in the SPFL, it became extremely hard for him to adapt to the Scottish game.
Despite impressing in pre-season and showing Beale what he could bring to the table, the then Rangers boss could not look past Tavernier.
Zukowski also suffered an injury that hampered his progress, and he could never quite recover from that during his time in Scotland.
