Cyriel Dessers’ decisive strike during Rangers’ narrow victory over Motherwell might have been more than a little fortuitous, but there is certainly nothing lucky about Nikola Krstovic’s start to life in Serie A.
Midway through the first-half, Rabbi Matondo’s speculative shot cannoned off Dessers’ ankle and flew into the back of the net. When the former Feyenoord frontman was lying awake at night – envisaging himself opening his Premiership account at Ibrox – it’s unlikely he’d have imagined breaking his duck quite like this.
To say it’s been a rather sluggish start to life in Scotland for the £4 million summer signing would be an understatement. You cannot say the same of Krstovic, however. A striker linked with Rangers before Dessers’ arrival in early July, the Montenegrin marksman has four goals in just three Serie A starts in the yellow and red of Lecce.
If Dessers has stumbled out of the blocks, then Krstovic has exploded out of them, and is already galloping down the track.
Nikola Krstovic shows Rangers what they are missing
Snapped up for £800,000 less than Rangers paid for Dessers, Krstovic’s market value is rising quicker than a souffle in an overheated oven.
La Gazzetta dello Sport believe that AC Milan and Inter are already sniffing around.
Then again, perhaps Krstovic’s remarkable start should not come as too much of a surprise. Lecce’s sporting director has quite the eye for a young centre-forward, after all.
It was Pantaleo Corvino who brought Mirko Vucinic – the Roma icon and Krstovic’s idol – to Lecce twenty years ago, while also driving the deal which saw Fiorentina snap up a teenage Dusan Vlahovic for £1.5 million before selling him on for £72 million a few years down the line.
Three goals in four games
“(Krstovic) has Vlahovic’s nose for goal,” Corvino now tells Corriere della Sera, explaining why he decided to take a punt on a player who also caught Rangers’ eye while scoring 26 goals at DAC Dunajska Streda last term.
“I have my parameters. When I scout a boy, I look at his dexterity with the ball. The ease with which he plays.
“Whoever immediately shows important qualities has prohibitive costs. Let’s go further, let’s try to understand the potential of a boy. Glimpsing (a player’s potential) is an art.”
If Corvino is holding the paintbrush, a Krstovic-inspired Lecce side flying high in third place is his very own masterpiece.
