Gers director convinced Ibrox board with Belgian and Moroccan stars who inspired summer swoop
Yesterday at 08:45 AM
Rangers director of recruitment Nils Koppen has come into Ibrox with the challenge of attracting the next big thing to Govan and banking the club a player trading fortune.
The Gers' previous recruitment model had been eviscerated in recent months by outgoing chairman John Bennett with Koppen the man tasked with overseeing the revamp.
So far it's been an impressive start. Rangers have brought the club's bulging wage bill right down as well as the average age of the Ibrox squad.
Now, Nils Koppen has claimed that two leading examples from the PSV team he's just left helped convince the Rangers board he was the man to transform the club's transfer fortunes.
Rangers hope to emulate PSV 'pattern' at Ibrox
Now 10 months into his role at Rangers, Nils Koppen spoke with RangersTV over the weekend as he sought to deliver an update on the club's transfer dealings.
The Belgian recruitment guru has now gone one step further in an exclusive interview with the Rangers Review where Koppen discusses his time at PSV.
And Koppen has pointed to bringing John Bakayoko and Ismael Saibari to the PSV academy during his time in the Netherlands as the two shining success stories that helped convince Rangers of his credentials.
Belgian international Bakayoko has since been rated at over £30m amid interest from Manchester United whilst Moroccan talent Saibari was once rated at more than £50m amid interest from Arsenal.
"My first role at PSV was recruiting players between the academy and first-team, specifically scouting younger players," said Koppen.
"I joined PSV as a scout responsible for Belgium and academy players in France. Quickly there were more opportunities to progress inside the club.
"In Holland, there's a culture of being able to prove yourself and getting thrown in at the deep end.
"Johan Bakayoko was signed as an academy player by PSV from my region in Belgium, Ismael Saibari too.
"They're both examples I discussed during my interview process at Rangers and that was part of the remit when I was hired – to attract and identify young talents like these two examples, bring them to the club and get them in the first-team right away.
"The club were looking for someone with experience of that pattern."
Rangers used 'data sweep' to identify top talent
There are two players from Rangers' summer recruitment drive who certainly stand out with regards these Nils Koppen comments.
Those are talented Moroccan striker Hamza Igamane, who is already making a solid impression at Rangers, and AC Milan defender Clinton Nsiala, who is yet to make his first-team debut.
Igamane in particular is a highly-rated young talent, with leading football data analysis company CIES Football Observatory rating the striker as one of the best U23 forwards in global football.
In the interview with the Rangers Review, it's claimed that Rangers identified Igamane via a 'data sweep' of the Moroccan top flight.
It's this move into emerging markets which can see Rangers become a leader in player trading as the club looks to provide a platform for burgeoning talents to express themselves.
Rangers cannot compete with the sorts of wages on offer south of the border, with the club being stung by high wages on underperforming English players in recent seasons.
This international transfer expansion is very much deliberate and Koppen explains that Rangers need to box smarter as they look to thrive in the Premier League era.
"We're not going to know every player in the world in depth, we have to pick out fights, be specific where we use our resources, we cannot copy a blueprint of a Premier League club in England, because that's not what we are," Koppen said.
