The Rangers number nine jersey is one which weighs heavy on any striker who is lucky enough to wear it.
With the glory of leading Rangers’ frontline comes an immense expectation which – even by their own admission – the Rangers strike force is not currently meeting.
Cyriel Dessers blows hot and cold, with his particularly chilly moments coming in the biggest games, whilst Brazilian striker Danilo hasn’t been fit enough to leave an impression.
With Dessers costing a cool £4.5m and Danilo a quite astonishing £6m, it’s fair to say the investment us yet to reap any major rewards.
But as the final international break of the year rolls to a close, one reported Ibrox striker target has just stolen the headlines and sent a stark transfer reminder to supporters.
Rangers-linked striker turns heads in Serie A
Rangers were linked with a move for Montenegrin striker Nikola Krstovic last summer ahead of that £10.5m double swoop for Dessers and Danilo.
The now 24-year-old striker had been impressing in Slovakia with Dunajská Streda but wound up moving to Serie A Lecce instead.
With the Italians paying a reported £3.2m to sign Krstovic, this is a transfer which is the bugbear of many Rangers fans who’re sick and tired of watching their players blow big opportunities.
Not least because Nikola Krstovic went on to score seven goals in Italy last season and is reportedly attracting interest from the likes of AC Milan and Inter.
Now in his second season at Lecce, it’s with Montenegro that Krstovic has been turning heads this week after the striker banged in a hat-trick in the UEFA Nations League.
Nikola Krstovic nets Montenegro hat-trick
In an impressive showing at home to Turkey, once Rangers-linked Nikola Krstovic netted all three goals to end Montenegro’s UEFA Nations League campaign on a high.
The young striker doubled his Montenegro tally in one night with a heroic hat-trick which has turned heads all across Europe.
Kristovic showed his predatory instincts to pounce on a ball over the top, close down on goal and fire past the Turkey keeper for the opening goal of the game.
The striker then rasped in a stunning second on the stroke of half-time, whipping the ball past the goalkeeper after Turkey had forced home an equaliser.
But Nikola Krstovic wasn’t finished there.
The striker completed his hat-trick and killed off Turkey’s resolve by scoring a looping header with 17 minutes to play.
