Legendary Ibrox boss Dick Advocaat believes one-time Rangers target Joey Veerman is becoming a ‘great player’ who can ‘easily’ play for a club the size of Juventus.
Where would Rangers be right now had the Glasgow giants succeeded in signing not only Joey Veerman but also Andreas Skov Olsen, Terem Moffi, Albert Gudmundsson and/or Celtic’s wondergoal-scoring winger Luis Palma?
This is merely hypothetical, of course. What cannot be argued with, however, is that Rangers have missed out on flurry of highly-talented footballers during the last couple of windows, all the while bringing in players hardly fit to lace their boots.
The Gers reportedly failed with a £4 million bid for the then-Heerenveen ace Veerman during the summer of 2021, and promptly brought in Juninho Bacuna later in that very same window (De Telegraaf).
Rangers wanted Joey Veerman before he joined PSV
“Veerman is a great player,” Advocaat, a two-time Scottish Premiership champion during his time in the Ibrox dugout, tells Veronica Inside. “If you see the game as quickly as he does, you can play anywhere.
“I think he can play for Juventus in midfield. He can easily join Juventus, I’m sure (of that).”
Just to rub some salt into the wounds, Veerman scored as PSV trounced Mick Beale’s Rangers 5-1 in August’s Champions League qualifier, knocking the Gers out of Europe’s premiere club competition before it even began.
The Dutch international now has four goals and 10 assists from just 20 appearances this season, his PSV side already seven points clear at the top of the Eredivisie with a 100 per cent record to boot.
An Eredivisie title incoming
“What he can do forward, he always plays between the lines,” former Dutch international Martijn Meerdink tells De Telegraaf. “It seems that he has also gained some more dynamism under (PSV coach and another man once linked with Rangers) Peter Bosz.
“Of course, he plays further forward than normal. And he is phenomenal on the ball.”
