Are Rangers on course for a return to the Champions League?
Having already dumped out Panathinaikos in the previous round, the Gers demolished Viktoria Plzeň 3-0 in the first leg of their third qualifying round tie on Tuesday night; new hero Djeidi Gassama scored twice, while Cyriel Dessers converted a penalty in first half stoppage time.
Thus, Russell Martin’s side will take a commanding lead to Stadion města Plzně next Tuesday, now likely to face Club Brugge in the play-off round, after the Belgian outfit beat Red Bull Salzburg 1-0 away from home in their first leg on Wednesday.
Even though the Light Blues have both Champions League and Scottish Premiership commitments during a very busy August, they remain active in the transfer market too, so could they sign a “talented” youngster from a Premier League giant?
Rangers continuing to reinforce
So far this summer, Rangers have made nine new signings, most recently bringing in Oliver Antman for a reported fee of £4m on Monday.
24 hours later, the Finnish international was thrown in for his debut against Viktoria Plzeň and certainly impressed, posing a constant threat all night, with European scouting expert Joost van der Leij asserting that they “robbed the living daylights out of Go Ahead Eagles”, getting such a high-quality player at a bargain price.
One position Martin has not yet strengthened is his goalkeepers, failing in attempts to sign Carl Rushworth from Brighton and Aaron Ramsdale from the new manager’s former club Southampton.
Thus, as reported by Dominik Schneider of FußballTransfers, Rangers “have joined the race” to sign Arsenal goalkeeper Karl Hein, with Sevilla amongst those also interested.
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The 23-year-old finds himself third-choice in North London, behind David Raya and new signing Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Last summer, manager Mikel Arteta stated that the youngster “needs to play games”, adding that he has “big potential and a big future ahead of him”, with Hein subsequently loaned out to Real Valladolid, so another loan move, this time to Govan, could be on the cards.
How Karl Hein would improve Rangers
Hein joined Arsenal from Meistriliiga side Nõmme United back in 2018, but has only featured once for the Gunners at senior level since then, starting a Carabao Cup tie against Brighton in November 2022.
He endured a pretty underwhelming loan spell at Reading earlier that year, appearing just five times for the Royals at EFL Championship level, but took a gigantic leap forward in his development in Spain last season.
During that aforementioned loan spell at Real Valladolid, Hein was their starting goalkeeper, racking up 32 appearances, earning plenty of praise for his performances, even though los Blanquivioletas finished rock-bottom of the table.
Minutes
2,790
13th
Goals conceded
68
1st
Post-shot xG faced
58.8
1st
Saves
96
4th
Crosses stopped
34
5th
High claims
28
6th
Errors leading to a goal
1
19th
Passes attempted
941
6th
As the table outlines, while Hein did concede more goals than anyone else in La Liga last season, he did face the most expected goals too, given that Valladolid were largely hopeless, and other statistics make for more encouraging reading.
He ranked fourth for saves and fifth in terms of crosses stopped, making just one error resulting in an opposition goal.
Also, despite his lack of club experience, Hein does boast plenty at international level, having already accumulated 39 caps for Estonia since his debut five years ago, starting 22 of the Blueshirts’ last 23 competitive fixtures.
Chris Wheatley of the Sporting News labelled him a “talented goalkeeper”, while Josh James of Arsenal.com documents his ‘rapid development’, praising his ‘laser-like focus’ on improving every single day.
Meantime, following Real Madrid’s 3-0 victory over Valladolid last August, President Florentino Pérez praised the opposition’s “very good goalkeeper”, making six saves that afternoon at the Bernabéu.
So, could he become the latest loan star to arrive at Rangers from a Premier League giant and shine?
Well, the most recent player to do this was Ryan Kent, who impressed to such an extent during his loan period from Liverpool in 2018/19 that the Gers paid a reported fee of £7.5m to make the deal permanent, the second-most expensive signing in the club’s history, only surpassed by the £12m splashed to sign Tore André Flo in 2000.
Kent would go on to make 218 appearances for the Light Blues, scoring 33 goals and registering 56 assists, winning the Premiership title and a Scottish Cup, also a pivotal figure in the team that reached the Europa League Final in Seville.
Well, if Hein went on to have even half as successful a career as that in Glasgow, his signature would represent quite the coup.
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