Rangers pursuit of Antonio Colak has been a surprisingly public one, usually, our transfer business is conducted in secrecy but PAOK Salonkia obviously aren’t quite as water tight as the ship that Ross Wilson likes to run.
Claim and counter claim have led us to the point where it looks as if it is all but signed and sealed, PAOK’s manager being honest enough to admit that they can’t let the big Croatian go until the have a replacement because they currently only have one striker other books.
Speaking to GiveMeSport, journalist Peter O’Rourke has confirmed that Rangers are doing everything they can to get the deal over the line in a move that might not be hugely exciting but is a definite upgrade on the now departed Cedric Itten:
“It looks like he’s got a decent goalscoring record in Greece and he is a Croatia international as well.
“Obviously, it’s a deal Rangers are working very hard to get over the line. They are just trying to conclude a deal with the Greek side.”
Colak spent last season on loan at Malmo from PAOK and hit 14 goals and three assists in 26 league games before returning to Greece and finding himself out of favour, a very respectable rate of return for someone playing in a new league and it’s easy to see why we are looking to add him to our squad.
With Alfredo Morelos and Kemar Roofe already in situ, persuading another experienced striker to come in wouldn’t have been easy given that there is no guarantee of game time, however, our run to the Europa League final could well have been the selling point, Colak being partially responsible for us being in the competition in the first place – hopefully this time, he can help, rather than hinder, our Champions League prospects.ee