Glasgow Rangers have made it back-to-back wins under Michael Beale for only the second time during the 2023/24 campaign and the latest of those, a 1-0 victory over Real Betis at Ibrox in the Europa League, will give the club a massive confidence boost.
The game saw yet another solid performance from goalkeeper Jack Butland, who made four saves during the encounter and demonstrated how comfortable he is on the ball by taking 45 touches throughout the tie.
The Englishman has arguably been the standout among the summer arrivals as Beale has yet to get a proper tune out of some of them, Cyriel Dessers included.
How has Cyriel Dessers performed at Rangers?
The forward joined the Gers from Serie A side Cremonese during the transfer window on a four-year deal as Beale looked to replace the departed Alfredo Morelos and Antonio Colak in the Gers first team.
The Nigerian international had scored six goals in the Italian top flight during the 2022/23 season and while this wasn’t exactly prolific by any stretch of the imagination, Beale had clearly seen something in the player.
So far, however, he has failed to sparkle at the Light Blues, netting only two goals, with none of them coming in the Premiership.
The 28-year-old has missed four big chances in the league so far while succeeding with only 0.3 successful dribbles per game and losing possession 8.8 times per game as he has still to adapt to the Scottish game.
Could the 43-year-old perhaps have signed another striker who would have been a better option than Dessers? As the Ibrox side were linked with youngster Petar Ratkov earlier this year.
Did Rangers nearly sign Petar Ratkov?
Not long after Beale took charge of the club, he went and brought in Todd Cantwell and Nicolas Raskin during the January transfer window, bolstering his squad in the process.
A few weeks later it appeared as though the manager was planning ahead for the future, keeping tabs on Ratkov, according to Football Insider.
The promising talent was playing for Serbian outfit FK TSC, and they had already rejected bids from Parma and Anderlecht during the January transfer window, indicating that the Gers had some serious competition to potentially secure his signature.
Talent scout Jacek Kulig had profiled the player in 2022, stating that he was a “target man” while adding that his strengths were “finishing” and “link-up play” and his goalscoring abilities were never in question as he scored 14 goals and grabbed five assists across 40 games for his club side and this was an impressive return rate considering he was only 19-years-old.
The Gers were looking at a player who could turn into a long term heir for Alfredo Morelos, who looked closer and closer to departing Glasgow, yet Beale missed out on a youngster who he looks set to follow a path similar to that of Erling Haaland.
Why didn't Rangers sign Petar Ratkov?
Despite the early interest, the Gers eventually fell down the pecking order and the Serbian gem ended up signing for Red Bull Salzburg for a fee of €4.5m (£3.9m) which was a more than affordable figue of the Light Blues.
Haaland moved from Molde to Salzburg back in 2018 having shown immense promise at the Norwegian side, and it was at the Austrian outfit that he truly emerged as one of the biggest young talents on the continent.
Across just 27 games, Haaland scored a staggering 29 goals and grabbed seven assists, leading to a big-money move to Borussia Dortmund in January 2020.
His goalscoring exploits have established the 23-year-old as arguably the finest striker on the planet and Ratkov will be hoping to follow in these footsteps without a shadow of a doubt.
The 20-year-old – who, like the Manchester City man, stands at an impressive 6 foot 4, shares similar attributes to Haaland such as his finishing abilities and athleticism, and he has plenty of time on his side to make an impression in Austria.
Indeed, Ratkov has already scored once for his new club and the early signs look promising that he can be the next breakout star.
Is Petar Ratkov better than Cyriel Dessers?
With Dessers not exactly shining so far for the Gers, could Ratkov have perhaps been a better choice for Beale?
Last season, the Serbian not only scored more league goals (13 to six), but he also had more shots on target per game (0.9 to 0.5), created more big chances (five to two) and scored more often (every 189 minutes to every 265 minutes) and this indicates that he was by far the better performer for his club side during the 2022/23 campaign.
It is still early in his career and judgement shouldn’t be made on Dessers so quickly, especially with a hectic run of fixtures to come for the club until Christmas as they aim to balance domestic football with European competition.
If he doesn’t start finding the back of the net on a regular basis however, questions will soon be asked if he was the correct signing, and it doesn’t take long for new signings to feel the heat in the pressure cooker environment that is Ibrox.
Ratkov has already scored 26 goals in his professional career in just 92 matches and this should only increase having made the move to a bigger club in a much bigger league.
Although Morelos was at times temperamental and often inconsistent, his goal record was one that will take some beating, and it’s evident that the club miss his presence in the opposition penalty area.
While Ratkov wouldn’t have been a like-for-like replacement for the Colombian, he is already shining on the continent and given his similarities to Haaland, he could have turned into a key player for the club in the near future.
Dessers will need to show more in the next few months and given he has netted 113 career goals, there is no doubt that he has the talents that could allow him to blossom in Scotland.
The ability is there, now it is a case of displaying it.