Rangers are a complete mess right now, with their striker situation a microcosm of the entire club at Ibrox.
Danilo once again started Wednesday night’s demolition in Champions League qualifying, with Cyriel Dessers out injured and Hamza Igamane not available.
The big revelation following last Sunday’s miserable Scottish Premiership draw with St Mirren was Russell Martin’s claim that Igamane had refused to come on as a substitute at half-time, which isn’t ideal at all.
It has since been confirmed that the Moroccan has played his last match for the Light Blues, but are Rangers closing in on a replacement, who might just turn out to be even better?
Rangers’ search for a new centre-forward
The reason Igamane did not want to play in Paisley at the weekend is that he did not want to risk injury, seeking a move away from the club.
Well, it has been reported that the 22-year-old is now set to secure a £10.4m move to Ligue 1 side Lille, just 12 months after arriving in Glasgow from AS FAR for only £1.7m.
This represents a more than decent return on investment, although Igamane will need replacing, having scored 16 goals last season, four of which came in the Europa League, so are the Gers close to securing their new centre-forward?
Hamza Igamane
Well, according to journalist Nil Solà, Rangers are finalising a deal to sign Bojan Miovski from Girona.
They add that the North Macedonian international ‘is already on his way to Scotland’ to complete a deal that’ll cost €3m (around £2.6m) but could rise to €4.9m (around £4.2m), just 12 months after the Blanquivermells signed Miovski for £6.8m.
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So, will he become only the second Macedonian player to call Ibrox home, after Bajram Fetai, who made just one appearance for the club in 2004, an 18-minute cameo against Dunfermline Athletic?
Most would expect Miovski to have a slightly bigger impact!
What Bojan Miovski would bring to Rangers
Miovski will be hoping a return to Scotland revitalises his career, having really burst onto the scene the last time he was here.
After joining Aberdeen from MTK Budapest in the summer of 2022, the striker became an instant fans’ favourite at Pittodrie, scoring 44 goals in 98 appearances for the Dons.
Of these goals, four were scored in Europe, while he also netted three times against Celtic and on four occasions against Rangers themselves.
Aberdeen striker Bojan Miovski.
The move to Aberdeen has also exponentially improved his international career, winning 33 senior caps, featuring in 18 of North Macedonia’s last 20 fixtures, scoring five goals in his last nine international outings.
However, his year at Girona did not go quite so well, scoring just four times for the Blanquivermells, two of which came in a Copa del Rey tie against fifth-tier Extremadura, albeit they did struggle as a team, avoiding relegation by just a solitary point, having finished all the way up in fourth the year before.
Nevertheless, Miovski is a proven striker at Scottish Premiership level, with former Celtic striker Chris Sutton labelling his performances “phenomenal”, adding that he is “capable of taking opportunities…in those big moments”.
Meantime, then-teammate Nicky Devlin asserted the he was “the best player in the league in his position”. The question though still remains, does he represent an upgrade on Igamane?
Let’s compare the duo to find out.
Miovski (Aberdeen) vs Igamane (Rangers)
Stat
Miovski
Igamane
Appearances
98
49
Minutes
7,597
2,717
Goals
44
16
Minutes per goal
173
170
Assists
7
3
All stats below are per-90
Shots
2.6
2.3
Shots on target
1.5
1.5
Shots on target %
45.2%
39%
Shot-creating actions
2.2
3.56
Goal-creating actions
0.73
0.84
Big chances created
0.17
0.4
Big chances missed
0.47
0.25
% of touches in the box
19%
14%
Average Sofascore rating
6.88
7.08
via FBref.com, Squawka & SofaScore
The table outlines some of the key similarities and differences between Igamane and Miovski.
The Moroccan is more of a creative number nine, underlined by the fact he created more big chances and registered a higher number of both goal and shot-creating actions on a per 90 basis.
The North Macedonian, on the other hand, is a penalty box poacher, taking almost 20% of his touches in the opposition’s penalty area, while mustering more shots and shots on target per game, with a higher percentage of his attempts finding the target.
It’s also worth noting that Miovski’s statistics are even more impressive when you consider he was playing for Aberdeen in one of the least evenly-balanced leagues in the world, so his goals return is only likely to increase at Rangers.
In the SPFL-era, only three non-Old Firm players have scored 16 or more goals in back-to-back top division seasons, namely Lawrence Shankland, Adam Rooney and, of course, Miovski himself, so he is surely set to score a bucket load of goals at Ibrox.
