Glasgow Rangers were busy throughout the January transfer window, making four additions to their squad, and Andreas Skov Olsen was the headline arrival.
The Light Blues signed the Denmark international on an initial loan from Bundesliga side Wolfsburg, who had signed him from Club Brugge for £12m just 12 months prior.
Skov Olsen’s loan deal also includes an option for the Scottish Premiership giants to sign him on a permanent basis in the summer transfer window for a fee of around £8.7m.
Given that Wolfsburg paid £12m to sign him from Club Brugge in January at the start of last year, Rangers may look at that £8.7m fee as a bargain in comparison.
However, there has not been reported to be an obligation to sign him permanently. This means that his long-term future at Ibrox remains up in the air.
What Skov Olsen needs to do for Rangers to sign him permanently
Due to the size of the fee involved, Skov Olsen needs to do more than just be a decent player in the second half of this season to justify the option to buy.
£8.7m is a big fee for Rangers, given that their club-record signing is Tore Andre Flo for £12m in 2000, which means that the Danish forward needs to prove that he is worth that kind of money.
Skov Olsen needs to be a consistent difference-maker at the top end of the pitch, winning valuable points for the Gers on a regular basis, to earn that big-money summer move to Ibrox.
The Danish forward turns 27 this year. This means that he is not a young prospect the club would be investing in. They need immediate production to justify the outlay, and he made a good start with his first goal against Kilmarnock last time out.
The left-footed forward’s cultured finish into the top corner for his first Ibrox goal was, hopefully, a sign of things to come from the star who was once valued at £12m by Wolfsburg.
If he can provide goals and assists as regularly as he once did with Club Brugge, where Skov Olsen racked up 16 or more goal involvements in four successive seasons, then the winger may convince the Gers to spend £8.7m on him.
Meanwhile, there is a current Rangers player whose performances this season have seen his value shoot above that £8.7m valuation of Skov Olsen.
Rangers hit gold with star who is worth more than Skov Olsen
Former Gers sporting director Kevin Thelwell took a risk last summer when they decided to spend £8m on the signing of Youssef Chermiti, making him one of the most expensive signings in the club’s history.
That looked to be a poor piece of business in the early parts of the season because the former Everton marksman only scored one Premiership goal from August until the end of November.
Given that the 21-year-old striker failed to score a single competitive goal for the Toffees in two years in England, it was understandable that there were some concerns over the fee paid for him.
Chermiti, however, has scored three goals and provided one assist in the Premiership since the start of December, which shows a clear upturn in form on the pitch.
His two-goal performance in the 3-1 win over Celtic at Parkhead at the start of January was his breakthrough moment in a Gers shirt, as the youngster showed that he can impact the biggest games.
With that showing on the other side of Glasgow, Chermiti proved to supporters and pundits that he can still turn things around and prove himself to be a good signing for the club.
There is still work to be done for the 21-year-old marksman, as he is only on four goals in the league this season, but speculation in January suggested that he is on the right track.
|
25/26 Premiership |
Chermiti |
|---|---|
|
Appearances |
17 |
|
Starts |
8 |
|
xG |
3.24 |
|
Goals |
4 |
|
Big chances created |
1 |
|
Assists |
2 |
The Telegraph’s Mike McGrath reported that Turkish side Fenerbahce had an offer of around £13m turned down by the Scottish giants for the Portuguese striker.
This means that Chermiti’s value has technically soared by at least £5m from the £8m that Rangers paid for him to the £13m that they rejected last month.
The fact that Fenerbahce were willing to pay such a big fee for the striker shows that he has been delivering promising performances that other teams are taking notice of, which is why the Gers have hit the jackpot with him.
Chermiti is currently valued at more than Skov Olsen, with £13m compared to £8.7m, and that is a credit to the potential that he has shown with Rangers in recent months.
It is now down to both players, for different reasons, to kick on and impress in the second half of the season, to help Danny Rohl win the Premiership title.
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