Rangers are reportedly on the hunt for a striker and the Ibrox club could do worse than look at the Netherlands and potent Dutch youth forward Thijs Dallinga.
According to the Athletic, the striker position is one of the main areas Rangers are eager to reinforce and it’s little wonder given how short the club ended up last season.
Alfredo Morelos suffered a heartbreaking, season-ending injury whilst on Colombia duty whilst Kemar Roofe is, well, he’s Kemar Roofe.
A potent forward with bags of instinctive ability, the problem with Roofe is his long line of injury problems and as a result reliability, not ability, are a major problem.
Combine all this with the fact that Cedric Itten has left Ibrox for Young Boys as part of a reported £1.5m deal and it’s clear that signing a striker is a main priority this season.
Not least because Rangers had to navigate a Europa League semi-final and then play the bulk of the Final without a recognised frontman.
This – it has got to be said – was a major recruitment failure and cost the club dearly as a stretched squad fell to the final kick of the ball in the baking hot heat of Seville.
All the talk surrounds Mateo Cassierra, who scored 14 goals in the Russian Premier League with Sochi this season, but there is some debate over how much the Colombian could cost.
Ex-Ajax forward Cassierra, 25, is desperate to get out of Russia, is known to the Rangers management and keeps namedropping the club in interviews.
But a potential £8.5m price tag and the fact any potential Colombian call-up could see two of our strikers called away mid-season has some doubting the move.
Is Thijs Dallinga a viable Mateo Cassierra alternative for Rangers?
Step forward Thijs Dallinga, the potent young Dutch striker who is just off the back of a phenomenal 36 goal season in the Eerste Divisie, firing Excelsior Rotterdam to promotion through the playoffs.
The striker even scored a last minute equaliser to force a pulsating eventual 4-4 draw with ADO den Haag to extra time with Excelsior eventually winning the tie on penalties.
Only 21, at 6ft2 the striker fits the mould of a powerful target man type in keeping with Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s vision but a move potentially makes sense for all kinds of reasons.
Thijs Dallinga is young, Dutch and has proven his goalscoring prowess at a decent level already in his young career.
Rangers’ Dutch coaching staff, and the opportunity to work with the likes of Roy Makaay, is surely an attractive proposition to the striker and we reckon he’s one worth watching, with Transfermarkt claiming his contract is set to expire in the summer 2023.
The player’s age and the prospect of a future sale must also be attractive, although it is not clear just how much Thijs Dallinga would cost to bring to Scotland from the Netherlands.
Rangers need a striker and alongside Alfredo Morelos and Kemar Roofe on paper Dallinga looks like an interesting option, especially if the club are looking to spend some money.
And also if any proposed move for Mateo Cassierra doesn’t materialise.
Meanwhile, a Premier League club are targeting revenge on Rangers after the Gers pipped them to a reportedly top summer target.