Finding a replacement for Connor Goldson is no easy task.
Across six years, the vastly-experienced central-defender was the colossus at the heart of Rangers’ backline. Not only a massive presence in both penalty areas, Goldson’s pinpoint diagonals became a key cog in Rangers’ tactical plans and their build-up play.
Furthermore, they say the best ability is ‘availability’.
And Goldson, making over 300 appearances for the Glasgow giants until his departure to Aris Limassol, played 48 or more games in five of his six seasons at Ibrox.
Robin Propper, then, has big shoes to fill.
But the FC Twente captain, who is expected to seal a £2.5 million move to Scotland before this weekend’s Premiership opener against Hearts, certainly possesses many of the attributes that made Goldson such an integral member of the starting XI.
At 6ft 3ins, the physically imposing Propper is also both a fine defender and a useful source of goals at the other end. In three years in Enschede, he scored times in the 11 Eredivisie.
30-year-old Propper is a fine passer of the ball himself too – a so-called ‘footballing centre-half’ – while missing only one game through injury during the entirety of his Twente career.
Rangers to sign FC Twente captain Robin Propper
Pieter Huistra, who won five successive Premiership titles with Rangers in the 1990s, handed Propper his senior debut during their time together at De Graafschap over a decade ago.
“His reading of the game, intelligence and passing stood out for me,” Huistra recalls, speaking to the Daily Record. “(In the Eredivisie), they had many good strikers. He’s better against bigger strikers than smaller ones but he’s probably improved in that in the years since I worked with him.
“Robin is a footballing centre back who likes to build up from the back and take a little bit of risk. It’s no problem for the Dutch central defenders to play in the Scottish league.
“It depends on how Rangers want to play. If they want to play in the opponent’s half then he was never the quickest but he’s a good reader of the game. He’s not the fastest, but he’s quick in the head.”
Huistra draws comparisons between Propper and Inter Milan powerhouse Stefan de Vrij.
“It’s always hard to compare players but I’d say he is maybe similar in style to Stefan de Vrij,” adds the 57-year-old, who currently works in Indonesia as the head coach of Borneo FC Samarinda.
“He’s good in duels, very brave in defending.”
De Vrij is not the only Dutch international Propper shares similarities with.
Theo Snelders, the one-time Rangers goalkeeper, feels that Propper’s two-footedness and his ability to build the play from the back is reminiscent to Liverpool’s own Virgil van Dijk.
Likened to Stefan de Vrij and Virgil van Dijk
“I don’t want to say he is at the same level as Virgil van Dijk but Propper is a very good defender,” Snelders argues, via the Record. “You only look at the influence he has had on Twente. In the three years he has been there, Twente have not been out of the top five and last season they finished third.
“It is a big blow to Twente so close to the start of the season because he is not only a top defender but also their captain. So that shows the type of quality that Rangers are getting.”
“At Twente, he mainly played on the left but he can play on either side of the centre of defence. He is good with both feet and a big part of his play is the long diagonal he can play out from the back to open up defences.”
Propper will add to a growing contingent of Eredivisie exports at Ibrox.
He played alongside striker Cyriel Dessers at Heracles, while former FC Twente team-mates Vaclav Cerny and Danilo will hope to spark up a ‘sensational partnership’ again in Scotland.
