Rangers were told that £2million was a ‘bargain’ for Eros Grezda, but his time at Ibrox was ultimately forgettable.
The Gers had to go through big changes in Steven Gerrard’s first transfer window at the club.
Looking back at the arrivals, there were some great deals in there, such as signing Scott Arfield and Allan McGregor for free.
Connor Goldson has proven to be great value for money and the same goes for Borna Barisic.
The Croatian left back arrived from Osijek shortly after Rangers faced them in the Europa League qualifiers.
Rangers then dipped into that market again, reuniting Barisic with his Osijek teammate Eros Grezda.
Whilst Barisic has been a fixture of the Rangers setup for years now, the same can’t be said of Grezda.
Eros Gredza came with hype but struggled at Rangers
Rangers struck a £2million deal to bring winger Grezda to Glasgow having seen Jamie Murphy go down with a major injury.
Then 23, Grezda seemed to be a talent heading in the right direction.
Grezda had hit nine goals in 50 games for Osijek and looked like a dangerous winger with trickery and a turn of pace.
The excitement built quickly; Albanian journalist Ermal Kuka told The Glasgow Evening Times that Rangers had landed an ‘absolute bargain’ at just £2million.
Kuka backed Grezda to be worth around £20million within two years and saw him as the future of Albanian football.
That was exciting for Rangers fans and we can’t blame Kuka for feeling that way.
Grezda just never quite lived up to that billing and managed just 13 league appearances in his first season at Ibrox, registering two goals and one assist.
Just over a year after arriving, Grezda was fined and effectively frozen out under Gerrard having allegedly spat at Ballymena defender Andrew Burns.
There was no way back for Grezda and the last few years have been difficult for him.
Grezda now back home in Albania
Rangers allowed Grezda to leave in January 2020, sending him back to former club Osijek just before the global pandemic hit.
The hope was that a return to Osijek would get Grezda back on track, but that really didn’t happen.
Grezda managed just 17 first-team appearances upon his return to Croatia and was loaned out to Hungarian side Zalaegerszeg in 2021.
The next stop was another Croatian side in Sibenik, spending just a few months there before heading to Turkey’s second tier with Manisa.
The trend continues; Grezda was let go after just a few months and returned to Zalaegerszeg earlier this year, seeing out the season before returning to Albania.
Now playing for FK Partizani Tirana, Grezda sits second in the Albanian top flight and will be chasing a league title this season.
There has always been quality in Grezda’s locker but we just never saw it in a Rangers shirt.
Hopefully, this nomadic run of five clubs – Osijek, Zalaegerszeg, Sibenik, Manisa and Partizani Tirana – in four years will end now Grezda is back in Albania, and the signs are encouraging after 17 appearances already this season.
Barisic became a big success at Rangers but it just wasn’t to be for Grezda, who will hope to get back on track once and for all in his homeland.
