Rangers facing Itten repeat with 6 ft 4 “warrior”

Glasgow Rangers have had varying degrees of success with regard to signing players from Europe over the previous few years.

The Ibrox side don’t have the financial power to challenge those in the Premier League for players, which means the likes of La Liga, Serie A, the Bundesliga and the top flight down south of the border tend to be avoided, especially those at the upper echelons.

As such, the Light Blues tend to target other leagues, where talented players can be picked up rather cheaply, before potentially being sold for a profit.

Recently, Mohamed Diomande (FC Nordsjaelland) and Hamza Igamane (AS FAR) joined from clubs typically outside the norm. Still, there is no doubt the pair are extraordinarily talented and will eventually play in one of Europe’s big leagues.

Sometimes, these types of moves don’t exactly work out as planned. Take Eros Grezda, Carlos Pena, and Eduardo Herrera as prime examples. Signed from leagues in Mexico and Croatia, the trio failed to settle in Glasgow, underperforming massively and costing the club a fortune in transfer fees and wages.

One of the worst signings of recent memory – taking into account value for money – was that of Cedric Itten. The Swiss striker was expected to fire the Gers into a new era. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite go to plan…

Cedric Itten’s statistics for Rangers

In the summer of 2020, with the pandemic causing havoc, Steven Gerrard was working hard to build a squad capable of ending Celtic’s domestic hegemony.

In came Joe Aribo, Ianis Hagi, Kemar Roofe and Calvin Bassey, while Itten was another arrival as the manager aimed to bolster his attacking options.

The centre-forward had registered 27 goal contributions for FC St. Gallen during the 2019/20 campaign, which certainly impressed Gerrard enough to pay £3m for the player, hoping he would be able to find the same sort of success in Scotland.

Itten did manage to make 37 appearances

in all competitions, although just nine of them came in the starting XI. Overall, he scored six goals and grabbed three assists as the Light Blues won their first Premiership title in a decade.

The Swiss was sent out on loan to the Bundesliga, scoring twice for Greuther Fürth, before Giovanni van Bronckhorst recalled him in January 2022.

He failed to take this unexpected second chance, however, netting only two goals during the second half of the season, and it was evident his days at Ibrox were numbered.

The Dutch manager accepted an offer of £1.5m for Itten, who moved back to Switzerland to join BSC Young Boys. During his spell in Scotland, Itten failed to showcase his true talents.

Since returning to his homeland, Itten has scored 44 goals across the previous two and a half seasons, helping his team secure two league titles on the spin.

Could the Light Blues be facing a repeat of this during the current transfer window, however? There’s a defender who currently plays in Itten’s homeland for FC Zurich and has been linked with a return to Glasgow.

Former Rangers star wants Ibrox return

A couple of weeks ago, the Daily Record reported that former Ibrox centre-back Nikola Katic was keen on making a return to Rangers amid the defensive crisis that was engulfing the club.

More recent news concerning the defender states that he is considering his future in Zurich as (via the Daily Record) are ramping up a move back to Ibrox this month.

He is now training away from the first team amid a possible exit, but making a move for Katic should be the last thing on Philippe Clement’s mind, that’s for sure.

Why Nikola Katic should be avoided

With John Souttar, Dujon Sterling and Neraysho Kasinwirjo all injured, Clement hasn’t had much choice but to slot youngster Clinton Nsiala into the starting XI for his first taste of senior football in recent weeks.

The former AC Milan defender has handled the pressure rather well and looks like a wonderful talent. Add in the fact that Leon King is also at the club, and bringing back Katic must be avoided.

The Croatian centre-back joined the Gers during the summer of 2018, going on to make 30 appearances across all competitions in his maiden season.

The 2019/20 campaign saw the 6 foot 4 titan register his finest moment at the club, scoring the winner against Celtic at Parkhead in December 2019 – the club’s first victory at the ground in nine years – and this endeared him to the supporters.

During his time at the club, Gerrard even hailed him as a “warrior”, with his physical nature more than a match for opposition strikers. He had plenty to work on, but with more experience in the starting XI, Katic looked like he would grow into a formidable centre-back.

Disaster struck in 2020, however, as he suffered a serious knee injury which ruled him out for the entire title-winning season. To secure more game time, Katic joined Hajduk Split on a season-long loan deal in 2021, before moving permanently to FC Zurich in 2022.

In the Swiss Super League this term, Katic has succeeded with 80% of his passes, while being dribbled past 0.9 times, winning just 49% of his ground duels contested and losing possession 12.1 times per match on average.

These statistics are hardly impressive, indicating that Clement must look elsewhere if he wants to add some more defensive cover to his team.

Making a move for Katic would surely be a repeat of the Itten transfer from Switzerland a few years ago. The club can’t afford to get it wrong, especially with finances tight at the moment.

There is only a week left of the January transfer window, and only one player has joined the Gers so far. The Belgian will be under serious pressure to move some deadwood and announce a new arrival or two during that time.