Ryan Naderi has enjoyed a decent start to life at Ibrox, having joined Rangers on transfer deadline day this winter.
Rangers paid Hansa Rostock £4.3m in order to secure the services of the towering German striker, who is showing similarities to club icon Nikica Jelavic.
He has scored two goals in two for the Gers and appears to have already become Danny Rohl’s go-to number nine for the rest of the season.
Ryan Naderi is very similar to Nikica Jelavic
Nikica Jelavic moved to Rangers in August 2010 from Rapid Vienna for a fee in the region of £4million.
While the valuations are similar to Naderi’s, he would have cost a lot more had he been moving from there in 2026.
Regardless, much like the German striker, the Croatian had excellent aerial ability and the ability to exploit tight spaces.
Due to their frame, their work off the ball often goes unnoticed, and Rohl may have sanctioned the signing of the next Jelavic at Ibrox.
Naderi is in fact taller than Jelavic, with the former standing at 6 feet 4 inches tall, two inches taller than the ex-Gers forward.
Jelavic’s hold-up play was impeccable, and he thrived in a lone-striker system, something which Rohl also deploys.
The German will be delighted if he can get the 22-year-old to have the same kind of goal-scoring impact as the Croatian, who found the back of the net 36 times in 55 games for Rangers, and also provided 14 assists.
How can Rangers and Danny Rohl get the best out of Naderi
Rangers rely on their full-backs playing high and wide, and that is ideal when Naderi can serve as a target man.
The good thing for Rohl is that the striker is not one-dimensional and is capable of finding space inside the penalty area to free himself up for shots as well.
The plan would be for the Gers to continue playing at a high tempo and potentially a 4-2-3-1 system in which the number 10, potentially Mikey Moore, can act as a shadow striker and combine with Naderi.
This could see the Light Blues not just being a threat out wide, but could also look to exploit the half spaces with intricate one-touch football.
