Glasgow Rangers have enjoyed Premiership and Scottish Cup success in the previous two years, along with reaching a stunning Europa League final last season and despite being off the pace in the league title chase this term, Michael Beale looks to be the man to get them back to the summit.
Despite those triumphs, Ross Wilson’s business in the transfer market has been shoddy to say the least, missing out on a few high-profile targets, with current England star Ivan Toney being one.
The Brentford striker was wanted back in 2020 and a fee of just £5m was required to secure his services from Peterborough United, where he scored 49 goals in just 94 matches.
Remarkably, the forward very nearly joined Gers, once claiming: "I was going to sign for Celtic – but I was also going to sign for Rangers."
Since then, he has now graduated to becoming a full England international while sitting third in the Premier League goal-scoring charts this term on 17, and it was a huge missed opportunity for the club.
Another transfer saga rumbled on last year too, as the Light Blues scouted Israeli talent Oscar Gloukh according to Rangers podcaster Andy Barnett.
He told the Heart and Hand podcast: “They (Rangers) were meant to be looking at Oscar Gloukh, who I’ve seen play in person and is an absolutely superbly talented youngster, a wonderkid.
“He came on for Maccabi Tel-Aviv in the final third of the season and was just the best player in the league in the final third. He scored against Maccabi Haifa and Hapoel Tel-Aviv which are the two biggest games and there was meant to be clubs from La Liga as well as Rangers looking at him last night."
Where is Oscar Gloukh now?
Having impressed for Maccabi Tel-Aviv, scoring nine goals in 33 appearances, he sealed a move to Red Bull Salzburg after they activated his £6m release clause in January.
The “exciting talent” – as dubbed by football consultant Raphael Gellar – has begun life in Austria well, registering three goal contributions in only nine matches so far with that initial return suggesting he could turn out to be an incredible investment,
In the Austrian Bundesliga, the attacking midfielder has already averaged a rating of 7/10 across just seven games, taking two shots per game, creating four big chances and making 1.9 key passes.
All of these attributes will certainly have given Beale an extra dimension in his new-look Rangers attack.
Aged just 19, Gloukh already has three caps for Israel, scoring once and there is no doubt he will continue to rack up appearances on the international stage considering his wonderful form of late.
With a host of Rangers midfielders out of contract this summer, including Scott Arfield, Steven Davis, and Ryan Jack, while Malik Tillman ends his loan spell, there could have been a space available for Gloukh to develop and stake a claim for a first-team slot.
£6m sounds like a lot of money for Rangers but his potential is remarkable. Indeed, in a campaign where Beale's men trail Celtic, they could have done with the additional firepower and creativity, particularly after Joe Aribo's exit.
Indeed, this may well have to go down as their biggest error in the transfer market since the aforementioned Toney.
