Rangers had a serious centre-half issue last season, not re-signing Leon Balogun proved to be a mistake as was letting Nikola Katic leave for FC Zurich in a permanent deal.
The 26-year old centre-half became a fans’ favourite at Ibrox, his no-nonsense approach to defending covering up for his technical deficiencies.
Rangers might not have seen a future for the big Croatian, however, Nikola Katic could now be set for a move to Serie A, according to Mark Walker of The Glasgow Times.
Katic always seemed like he would be the perfect defender for a Sean Dyche team.
Head the ball, clear the ball, keep it simple.
No playing out from the back nonsense.
At Rangers though, that is exactly what Nikola Katic was expected to do under Steven Gerrard.
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How much of a difference Katic would have made last season when Giovanni van Bronckhorst only had Leon King and James Sands available is hypothetical but he would have, at least, been a natural defender.
In the right team Katic will be exactly what fans love to see in their defenders.
Every second picture of the 6ft 4inch stopper seems to be of him with a bandage round his head from being in the wars.
In the 80s and 90s, he would have been worth his weight in gold!
Football has changed though and defenders more and more need to be comfortable in possession and Rangers needed Nikola Katic to improve his distribution.
Dutch centre-halves, except for Jaap Stam, rarely have the attributes that Katic have and it’s easy to see why Gio wasn’t ever going to be a fan.
At his best, Celtic at Parkhead or Legia Warsaw at home, he was immense.
At his worst, St Johnstone away, he was as bad as a man down.
But he has clearly found the consistency that he lacked at Rangers and now, Nikola Katic could be defending against some of the best strikers in the world.