Former Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst believes the Scottish Premiership giants ‘wanted to buy’ Malik Tillman before Bayern Munich sold the USA international to PSV Eindhoven instead.
In the end, it simply made sense for Bayern to call off an arrangement they made with Rangers during the summer of 2022.
According to German publication Kicker, Mick Beale’s side had a £5 million purchase clause in Malik Tillman’s contract. But, once they realised that they could make far more by selling the talented attacking midfielder to another, more deep-pocketed club, Bayern wasted little time in tearing up that Rangers deal.
A decision justified – at least from a Bayern perspective – when Tillman eventually joined PSV Eindhoven in a deal which could earn the Bundesliga champions a cool £13 million.
Malik Tillman now at PSV after Rangers exit
“I watched a lot of videos of him before he came to us; a good player and a great talent,” Van Bronckhorst, who brought Tillman to Ibrox shortly before being replaced by Beale in the Ibrox dugout, tells RTL.
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“(Tillman) did a great job for us last year. He gave an assist against PSV and scored important goals against Union Saint-Gilloise (in the Champions League play-offs).
“He’s strong on the ball and also with his work ethic. He also reads the game and he has good dribbling ability.
“I do think Rangers wanted to buy him, but Bayern Munich bought off the option to buy that Rangers had. That’s why he is now at PSV.”
In a rather strange twist of fate, Tillman now finds himself playing for the other side as Rangers renew acquaintances with PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League play-offs. The German-born American was denied the chance to step onto the Ibrox pitch once again on Tuesday night, however, left on the bench as PSV fought back to cancel out Abdallah Sima and Rabbi Matondo’s goals in a pulsating 2-2 draw.