There are countless adjectives you could use to describe the 88th minute strike from Hamza Igamane which sent Rangers into the international break basking in the glow of a dramatic late win at Old Firm rivals Celtic.
Chris Sutton called Igamane’s rasping drive ‘phenomenal’. Stuart Arfield, the former Rangers playmaker now back in Scottish football with his beloved Falkirk, opts for ‘fabulous’.
After two months without one, Hamza Igamane certainly would have struggled to pick a better time – and a better moment – to end his goal drought in a Rangers shirt.
And what a week it was. Igamane earned his first call-up to the Morocco squad. After the striker made a very positive impression on coach Walid Regragui behind the scenes, a senior Atlas Lions debut was his reward as Morocco defeated Niger 2-1 in Friday night’s World Cup qualifier.
Arfield, meanwhile, found himself addressing the comparisons between Igamane and another of the finest pound-for-pound additions in Rangers’ modern history.
Scott Arfield addresses Hamza Igamane and Alfredo Morelos comparisons at Rangers
Between them, Igamane and Alfredo Morelos cost the Scottish giants less than £3 million.
Kenny Miller felt Igamane has ‘definite similarities’ with Morelos. Arfield, who played with the Colombian at Ibrox, can see what he means. Yet, the former Burnley and Huddersfield Town man is also keen to point out that Igamane is far from the finished artcle, as his recent 11-game run without a goal shows.
“He’s still got a long way to go before he can prove he’s the new Alfredo Morelos,” Arfield tells the Daily Record.
“With his stocky, powerful build, I’ve seen a lot of people comparing him to my old teammate Morelos. He’s a better technical operator than ‘Buff’ was but I think he’s got a long way to go to show he’s as clinical as Alfredo.”
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Arfield says Igamane is not yet ‘the real deal’ at Ibrox
Over six seasons, the firebrand forward scored 124 goals in 269 Rangers appearances. He is also now the club’s all-time top scorer in European competition, overtaking the legandary Ally McCoist in the history books.
Igamane’s own record in continental action is pretty impressive though. Four goals in eight games, including one against Tottenham Hotspur and a brace away to Nice which really lit the fuse under his Ibrox career.
“The Colombian got his fair amount of stick during his time in Glasgow but we’re talking about the club’s record European scorer here. There was a spell during Steven Gerrard’s time when he was unplayable,” adds Arfield, who claims that Morelos was an ‘unbelievable’ trainer behind the scenes too.
“Now, young Igamane has to show he can be the real deal. In Glasgow, you’re never as good or bad as they say you are.
“Cyriel Dessers – who gets a raw deal at times in my eyes – is nowhere near as bad as player as some critics claim while Hamza perhaps hasn’t been as good as some of the hype has suggested. But there’s a player in there alright.
“He just needs to keep grafting like the ‘Buff’ and hopefully he’ll hit those heights.”
Igamane is on track to come third in Rangers’ goalscoring charts this season, behind Dessers with 22 and Vaclav Cerny with 17 as things stand.
