No sooner did I declare that Jon McLaughlin should be our number one next season then a rumour emerged linking us with a move for Bosnian goalkeeper Vladan Kovacevic.
The 24-year old Under-21 international has been named as a target and, as reported by the Glasgow Times, could well be the long-term successor to Allan McGregor:
“Rangers have kicked off their goalkeeper search by pinpointing Vladan Kovacevic as a possible transfer option, with McGregor looking set to retire.
“The 24-year-old Bosnia and Herzegovina international is currently plying his trade with Rakow in the Polish first-tier, Ekstraklasa.
“Kovacevic still has two years left on his current contract, but Herald and Times Sport understand that Rakow are keen to cash in on their star man while they can.”
There can’t be many people in Scotland that keep up to date with Poland’s top flight, however, analyst and contributor to The Rangers Review, Patrick Caskie, has named Kovacevic as the keeper he would want us to sign if the funds were available.
Funnily enough I made this earlier today for a project I’m working on. He’s my cart blanche McGregor replacement. https://t.co/1atMZzAIoO pic.twitter.com/XZZANbEfIG
— Patrick Caskie (@patrickcaskie) May 23, 2022
Caskie goes on to explain that Kovacevic would probably cost between £3-5million and that he has a similar style to McGregor in that his shot stopping is what sets him apart, and, despite being described as “passive” he isn’t quite as rooted to his goal-line as the veteran and is, at least, comfortable with the ball at his feet.
I’d be happy with us investing in someone with this sort of potential and give them time to adapt to Scottish football and the pressures of playing for Rangers, watching and learning from McLaughlin as he settles, having the Scotland international on a tw0-year deal at least buys us some time to find more than a stop gap in a position that there is no room for getting recruitment wrong.