You may have missed it given the excitement of the day and the Aaron Ramsey saga but Rangers signed a right-back who will be tasked with covering James Tavernier.
Nathan Patterson was a more than able deputy but has moved on to pastures new with Mateusz Zukowski being signed to replace the Scotland international.
Zukowski is capped by Poland Under-21s and looks to have a similar penchant for the dramatic as his predecessor if this goal for Lechia Gdansk is anything to go by.
Lekcji z kontrataków udziela @LechiaGdanskSA, której okazały triumf nad @MKSCracoviaSSA umożliwiła także ta bramka Mateusza Żukowskiego!#LGDCRA 3:0 pic.twitter.com/ZV5xemGR2B
— PKO BP Ekstraklasa (@_Ekstraklasa_) August 14, 2021
After making a good job of attacking the initial corner, the 20-year old then puts on the after burners before finishing what he started at the other end of the park with a calm and composed finish – a real glimpse into what he is capable of and why we have signed him.
Pace is always a massive benefit especially for a young defender, it allows them to recover from mistakes and can help to forgive positional naivety, it’s also a god send on the counter attack and when trying to break down a low block.
The transfer is a great example of our player trading model kicking in, we sell a player that we developed for a massive fee before replacing them with an identikit replica capable of slotting seemlessly into the team – our sporting director will have a list of names for every position, the theory being that there is never any need for a rebuild and massive outlay of investment.
Zukowski is an exciting prospect from a market that we have rarely bought from in the past, Ramsey and Amad Diallo attracted the headlines but it shouldn’t detract from how good a deal the one for the Polish youth international is.