Rangers will have to look elsewhere if they are in the market for a goalscoring attacking midfielder after former target Mirko Ivanic put pen to paper on a new deal at Red Star Belgrade.
With eight goals in 21 appearances this season, the 28-year old Montenegro international has been in fine form and is now set to stay in Serbia for the long term.
A bid of around £3million was reportedly made by Rangers in the summer and after Red Star missed out on Champions League football, it was expected that they may have to cash in on several of their star players.
The bid was ultimately rejected though and Ross Wilson had to move on to other targets, Juninho Bacuna looking like the player most likely to fill the hole after Joey Veerman was deemed to expensive.
Although disappointing to miss out on such a talented player – either for a fee or on a pre-contract agreement – it at least shows that we have a fully functioning scouting department now and that no stone will be left unturned as we look to unearth talents that can both provide success and bring in a few pounds if they are sold further down the line.
Ivanic won’t be the first and won’t be the last player that we miss out on, our sporting director will have a huge database to cover departures in every position be it through retirement or being sold – if they are anywhere near the same level of ability as Ivanic, we have nothing to worry about though.