Now, losing a couple of key players is never good, but it does not always need to be a fatal blow to your title hopes.
Should Rangers, in a worst-case scenario, lose a Jack Butland or a James Tavernier this summer, the Glasgow giants could do worse than to take inspiration from the success of a team who last weekend got their mitts on the top-flight crown for the first time in six years.
PSV Eindhoven lost Ibrahim Sangare – their powerhouse enforcer – to Nottingham Forest for £30 million. First-choice left-back Philipp Max departed too, as did talismanic top scorer Xavi Simons. The Eredivisie’s Golden Boot winner for 202, no less.
That PSV not only bounced back but ascended to an all-new level without Sangare, Max and Simons is testament not only to the club’s much-admired recruitment team, but also the colossal step forwards made by those who were part of the side who finished a distant second behind Feyenoord last term.
Joey Veerman, for instance, has stepped out of Sangare’s shadows to become not only the finest midfielder in the Eredivisie, but also one of the finest anywhere in European football.
Did Rangers miss out on Europe’s best passer?
“Is there a better passer than him in Europe?” asks Rafael van der Vaart, the former Tottenham Hotspur, Real Madrid and Netherlands playmaker, speaking to Studio Voetbal.
“If he has the space, right? I was thinking this afternoon, you don’t find many (players better than him).”
The Rangers connection, meanwhile, comes from the reports suggesting that Steven Gerrard’s side submitted a £4 million bid for the then-Heerenveen captain a few months before he made the trip to Eindhoven instead (De Telegraaf).
Veerman, back in 2021, was obviously a player of real promise. But even the most optimistic PSV supporters may have struggled to imagine the 25-year-old ascending to such heights, comparisons with modern-day icons Andrea Pirlo and Toni Kroos about as glowing a compliment as any midfielder could hope to receive.
PSV star earns Pirlo and Kroos comparisons
“His gaze is always focused forward and the Dutch team needs that,” adds Van der Vaart, Veerman taking his tally to seven goals and 17 assists for the campaign during the 4-2 triumph over Sparta Rotterdam which secured PSV the title on Sunday.
“I have always compared Veerman with Andrea Pirlo.”
“I think he’s a bit like the Dutch Toni Kroos,” counters Pierre Van Hooijdonk, who played in Scotland for Rangers’ arch rivals Celtic. “Both Kroos and Veerman can cover the entire field with their right foot and have an extra eye to give the through ball.
For example, you never see (Barcelona’s Dutch star) Frenkie de Jong play a ‘switch’ pass. (Veerman) has completely different qualities.”
Rangers’ during the 4-1 hammering of Kilmarnock which kept Philippe Clement’s side in touch at the top of the Premiership table, benefitted from an almost-Pirlo-esque clinic in distribution of their very own.
John Lundstram‘s finest performance in a number of weeks – setting up Fabio Silva’s equaliser with a sublime chipped pass – was a reminder of what Rangers may soon be missing should the former Sheffield United ace follow Borna Barisic to Turkey.
