Rangers-linked Croatian wonderkid Roko Simic has signed a new contract with current club Lokomotiva Zagreb amid much-reported interest in the striker.
The young Croatian talent is amongst the country’s hottest young properties but the HNL.1 side have moved quickly to extend the 17-year-old forward’s current contract.
According to Croatian outlet Nacional, this contract will see the Kajzerica club tie the forward down until 2024 amid growing interest from RB Salzburg.
They believe that the Austrian side’s sporting director Christoph Freund travelled to Croatia to investigate the youngster’s qualities, claims which give a flavour of the reported interest.
The links to Roko Simic are also interesting when you consider previous comments comparing the striker to ex-RB Salzburg star Erling Braut Haaland.
The Norwegian wonderkid is a former Salzburg striker and is now one of the most highly-rated young talents in world football at Borussia Dortmund, with Haaland even being valued at £155m (€180m) by some outlets [ESPN].
Roko Simic was compared to Haaland by Robert Sola, the editor of the prominent Sportske Novosti in the Balkans nation, albeit it via Belgian outlet Voetbal Nieuws when asked about Anderlecht interest in the player.
So where do Rangers come in?
Well, there is some confusion regarding Rangers’ reported interest in the player.
Given the club’s historic links with signing talent from the country, no-one would be surprised to see the Gers having one eye on the forward.
Links to Ibrox first appeared alongside comments made about the talented striker by ex-Gers and Croatia forward Nikica Jelavic.
These appeared in the Daily Record and the Scottish Sun and quoted Jelavic as saying he believes Simic has all the attributes to become a “world-class striker”.
But a story in Sportske Novosti in May named Milan, Torino, Verona, Anderlecht, and RB Salzburg as having shown an “interest” in the player with no mention of Rangers.
Both Lokomotiva’s youngest ever goalscorer – pipping Marko Pjaca via a friendly with Slovenian Drava in 2020 – and the son of ex-AC Milan defender Dario, big things will now be expected of the forward.
Simic made 26 appearances in all competitions last season – 16 from the start – and the Rangers-linked Croatian wonderkid will be looking to build on his return of five goals in the next campaign.
Roko Simic isn’t the only talented young Croatian said to be interesting Rangers – click HERE to read more about potentially exciting links to the country’s U21 captain.
