Rangers' Antonio-Mirko Colak applauds fans after been substituted
Sky Sports contributor and writer for the Rangers Review Joshua Barrie has claimed that Antonio Colak can play a ‘big role’ for Michael Beale’s side.
The Lowdown: Hitting the target
The Croatian forward is the Scottish Premiership side’s top scorer this season in all competitions with 11 goals. Colak is three goals ahead of Gers captain and right-back James Tavernier in second place.
All of the 29-year-old’s goals so far have come in Scotland’s top flight, where he’s featured on 15 occasions so far this season.
Colak arrived in Glasgow last summer, signing from Greek outfit PAOK Thessaloniki for £1.8 million plus add-ons.
The Latest: A big role to play
Barrie claims that the forward could be an important player under Beale and raved about his current goal tally this season when speaking on the Rangers Review’s YouTube channel.
He stated (24:57), “For me, Colak is gonna still have a big role to play under Michael Beale, he might not be the starting striker for every week.
“If Morelos goes in the summer, as is the case at the moment because he’s not signed a new contract, we’ll need to replace him, definitely.
“But Colak’s 11 goals and 14 starts is a number in a poor team. At the start of the season, who weren’t playing well.
“It’s the type of numbers that we just haven’t had in a while and what it will also give Beale is something he had at Hampden which changed the game, is the ability to bring on a goalscorer.”
The Verdict: A great striking option
We believe that Colak is a great option for Rangers to have up front, as he was brought in to get goals and he’s certainly done that.
Current Blackburn Rovers boss Jon Dahl Tomasson managed the striker when the two were at Malmo, before joining the Gers. Speaking with The Scottish Sun ahead of his move to the club, he labelled Colak as an “excellent player” and someone with a “great attitude”.
Beale will likely be thinking of a potential replacement for Alfredo Morelos, as his deal at Ibrox runs out this summer. For now, he knows that he has a reliable option until the end of the season in the form of Colak.
There are other players in the squad they can turn to in the form of Kemar Roofe and Fashion Sakala, but neither have proven to make a huge impact in the 2022/23 campaign.
Rangers could have one of two approaches in the summer, the first being they bring in a striker who’s ready to start from the get-go.
Alternatively, they bring in someone younger and opt to use Colak as the main man up top, as we certainly believe that the 29-year-old is making a great case for himself with his goal return so far this season.
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