For any player in the Scottish Premiership to mentioned in the same breath as Henrik Larsson or Virgil van Dijk – even if the man in question is wearing the blue of Rangers – is quite the compliment.
While Rangers have pulled off a couple of eye-catching signings themselves in the modern era – Hamza Igamane, for instance, looks like the best value-for-money signing since fellow centre-forward Alfredo Morelos arrived from Finnish football for just £1 million – Larsson and Van Dijk will always have a place on the podium when ranking the most inspired Premiership acquisitions.
The legendary Larsson repaid Celtic’s £650,000 investment with considerable interest, not to mention over 200 goals, before winning the Champions League with Barcelona.
Virgil van Dijk, another to conquer the continent this time at Liverpool, made his name on British soil as a talented young central defender at Parkhead.
Celtic paid £2.6 million for the giant Dutchman. Four-and-a-half years later, Van Dijk would become the most expensive defender in football history to the tune of £75 million.
Whether anyone currently in the Rangers roster will leave such a lasting impression on Scottish football, only time will tell. Igamane is perhaps the most obvious candidate, such has been his impact on Rangers’ fortunes since that bargain arrival from Moroccan football.
All-action left-back Jefte has reportedly caught the eye of Chelsea despite some high-profile defensive blunders. Jefte could bring Rangers a profit similar to the one their Old Firm rivals made when Van Dijk headed south to Southampton.
The impressive recent form of Mohamed Diomande, meanwhile, has earned Rangers’ number ten the admiration of the European press with his talents starting to be noticed across the continent.
Spanish press rave about Rangers ace Mohamed Diomande
There is no particular reason why the £4.3 million signing from FC Nordsjaelland should have earned himself a solo feature in Spanish publication Sport.
But, clearly, reporter Jonathan Moreno has been impressed enough to run a profile piece on Diomande, with the 23-year-old’s driving runs from deep and his quick-footed stylings earning him admirers far beyond the Scottish borders.
Moreno highlights the financial constraints placed on clubs in less well-heeled divisions. Thus, forcing them to cast their nets further and wider, and delve that little bit deeper in search of diamonds in the rough.
Technical director Nils Koppen brought Hamza Igamane and Jefte, to name but two, to Ibrox for exactly this reason. They are affordable, brimming with potential, and could prove invaluable money-spinners later down the line.
Diomande, while far more expensive in excess of £4 million, is another who fits into that sign-low, well, relatively low, sell-high approach.
“His aggressiveness and the finesse of his left foot in the tackle soon captivated the Ibrox faithful,” Moreno writes in his Sport column.
“Mohamed Diomande is the latest big breakthrough in Scotland.”
Diomande can reach ‘the elite’ like Manchester City legend Yaya Toure
Shortly after he arrived on an initial loan deal 13 months ago, Philippe Clement predicted that Mohamed Diomande had the ‘talent’ as well as the ‘mentality’ to follow Van Dijk and co to the pinnacle of European football.
Moreno agrees, buying into the comparisons between the two-time Ivory Coast international and his iconic compatriot Yaya Toure.
“[Diomande] has the qualities to reach the elite,” he adds, describing the fee Rangers paid to make his loan deal permanent a ‘ridiculous’ one in all the right ways.
“Powerful, box-to-box, and with. a long-distance shot. The 23-year-old midfielder is, with all due respect, a clone of his compatriot Yaya Toure, with whom he has inevitably been compared.”
Back in Glasgow, the overarching assessment of Diomande’s first full season as a Rangers player is that he has been more ‘good’ than ‘great’. Some impressive performances, some rather anonymous ones, and a lot still to improve upon.
Then again, that is how things tend to work in Scotland these days. If Diomande was already the finished article, Rangers would not have snapped him up in the first place.
