Ivor Pandur will be playing his football in England this year after the once Rangers linked goalkeeper sealed a move from Fortuna Sittard to Championship outfit Hull City.
If there is one position where Rangers look particularly solid, it’s between the sticks.
Jack Butland – to borrow the words of Gers legend Ally McCoist – has been ‘out of this world’ since joining from Crystal Palace, one of the club’s most inspired signings for years.
Robby McCrorie, meanwhile, is a more-than reliable back-up, having proven his worth during the second half of last season. As such, Rangers opting against bringing Ivor Pandur to Ibrox is not quite the mistake it may have seemed had Butland not settled into life north of the border so impeccably.
Rangers watched Ivor Pandur in Eredivisie action
According to the Daily Mail, Rangers sent scouts to watch Pandur before Butland’s arrival.
The former Croatian Under 21 stopper did not have to wait long, however, for another British-based club to make a move, Hull City offering Pandur the chance to showcase his feline reflexes to a wider audience in England’s topsy-turvy second-tier.
“Ivor is a player with really good pedigree,” Hull coach Liam Rosenior tells BBC Sport after The Tigers agreed a £1.5 million deal with Eredivisie outfit Fortuna Sittard.
“The scouting team and I have watched him for a long time and he’s someone we feel can learn and develop in our first-team environment. He’s got a lot of potential and many qualities. He’s an outstanding shot-stopper with agility and plays with personality.
“Ivor’s already a leader at such a young age and made a big impression with Fortuna Sittard and their fans during his time in the Netherlands.”
Goalkeeper moves to England with Hull City
23-year-old Pandur impressed last term but has taken his game to a new level entirely in 2023/24, with one Croatian publication recently labelling him a goalkeeper ‘in the form of his life’.
Rangers could yet return for another dip in the Eredivisie watering hole in pursuit of a left-back, FC Twente’s Gijs Smal and PSV Eindhoven misfit Fredrik Oppegard among those linked should Ridvan Yilmaz depart.
