Rangers may have signed Florian Kamberi and Ianis Hagi on the last day of the January transfer window but it was the one that got away that could’ve been the player that made the difference.
Steven Gerrard’s pursuit of Matej Vydra was well documented and he would’ve been seen as a genuine threat to Alfredo Morelos’ position as the club’s main man.
With 26 caps for the Czech Republic and nearly 250 appearances spread between the Championship and Premier League, the Burnley striker is exactly the level of player that the Gers should be targeting to push them on to the next level.
The 27-year-old also boasts an impressive scoring record with nearly a goal every three games over his 300 game league record, his £11million move from Derby to Burnley proving how highly he is rated.
The sticking point surrounding his potential transfer to Glasgow was whether or not Sean Dyche could secure a replacement which – unfortunately for Rangers – he was unable to do, despite already having Chris Wood, Ashley Barnes and Jay Rodriguez on the books he felt that the Czech’s departure would leave him light in attacking numbers.
Prior to the January window closing, Vydra had played just 100 minutes of Premier League football all season and had one assist to his name. In the five games since, he has been involved in four of them, starting in two and scoring twice as Burnley enjoyed a seven-game unbeaten run in a fixture list that included facing Manchester United, Leicester City, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.
Rangers would be wise to go back in for Vydra in the summer when the now £4.5million-rated striker (as per Transfermarkt) could represent good value for money, should Morelos head off for pastures new. Unfortunately for this season, despite the relative success of Kamberi and Hagi, not landing the Burnley man has cost them their title challenge and Scottish Cup place.