Rangers scouted 21-goal striker last year and now he’s a £13m Celtic target

Before bringing Danilo and Cyriel Dessers to Ibrox last summer, Rangers were linked to a number of center-forwards. And it’s safe to say that some of the people who were allegedly being considered at the time by Mick Beale and company have done better than others.

In Italy, Nikola Krstovic shot to fame, but since then, the flames have gone out. In Belgium, the situation with Matija Frigan has been comparable. Conversely, Josh Maja has been sidelined by injury for the majority of his rookie campaign at West Bromwich Albion.

At the very least, Haji Wright can have a seat next to Fotis Ioannidis. Like the Coventry City forward, the Panathinaikos talisman isn’t exactly becoming a classic “one that got away,” but his impressive goals return at least gives Rangers some explanation for their initial interest.

Rangers strikers are currently being scouted by Celtic.

Ioannidis has played in 38 games for Panathinaikos in 2023–24, tallying 21 goals and seven assists. It should come as no surprise that clubs far richer than Rangers, like West Ham United of the Premier League, Sevilla, Lazio, and Eintracht Frankfurt, have taken notice of him due to his form.

According to the report, a number of other clubs have lined up Ioannidis to take the place of some of Europe’s most sought-after number nines, including Joshua Zirkzee at Bologna, Viktor Gyokeres at Sporting Lisbon, and Serhou Guirassy at Stuttgart.

While Ioannidis’s linkage to Rangers in February 2023 certainly did not raise eyebrows, the team now managed by Philippe Clement seems to have been ahead of the curve, having watched the 24-year-old Athens-born player at a time when his promise had not yet materialised into a prolific goal scoring record. Rangers reportedly scouted both Ioannidis and then-Panathinaikos teammate Dimitrios Kourbelis.

The scouts from Ibrox were right on.

Rangers should also be commended for recognising the potential of Archie Brown, who is reportedly linked to Chelsea, and the three players who are probably worth more than £30 million combined—Albert Gudmundsson, Andreas Skov Olsen, and Joey Veerman—while they were still relatively unknown in their native nations.

Calciomercatio reports that a different team much closer to home is also vying for Ioannidis. None other than Celtic, the Old Firm rivals. It is possible that Celtic will surpass their all-time record for transfers this summer. Despite Ioannidis’ £13 million valuation, Brendan Rodgers has money in the bank as a result of some significant sales.

However, it appears unlikely that Celtic will prevail over teams that can afford to pay much more in a much larger league, which will relieve Rangers greatly.

In other news, ‘I would love to’ – Ex-Rangers attacker wants Ibrox return in starring role