According to The Sun yesterday, Millwall have agreed a deal for Kevin Nisbet believed to be for £1.2m with the potential for it to rise to £1.5m. They had agreed a deal thought to be worth around £2.2m in January but Nisbet pulled out at the last minute, claiming it just wasn’t the right time for him to move.
Anything around the £1.5m mark represents excellent value for money for a striker of his quality. He suffered with injury earlier in the season but came back and hit a great run of form to end the season.
The 26-year-old Scotland international is being chased by many teams as he enters the last year of his deal. Millwall, currently, appear to be the front runners and are trying to get the deal tied up quickly to avoid any competition.
His numbers this season for Hibs are;
- 19 Appearances (16 Starts)
- 12G/1A
- 114mins Per Goal
- 23% Goal Conversion
Considering he came back from serious injury half way through a season, these numbers are excellent. He’s shown an excellent ability to be in the right place at the right time with a variety of different goals, including a free-kick against Hearts.
He gets most of his goals through his clever movement, his ability to peel off of a defender is second to none. He also makes smart runs off of the defenders to get in behind, always offering an out ball to his team mates.
He hasn’t excelled in the big games against Rangers and Celtic, only scoring two in six appearances against the top two SPFL sides. He has shown he can score against all the other teams in the league though, something Rangers have struggled with in recent times. He’s more than capable of creating chances for himself as well as finishing off chances created by others.
For the most part, he’s a penalty box striker, absolutely clinical within 18 yards. His only goal outside the box was actually the aforementioned free-kick in the Edinburgh derby but he did only attempt nine shots from outside the area in his 19 SPFL appearances. His conversion rate from inside the box was 26%, meaning he scores more than one in every four attempts from that range.
That number far outperforms any Rangers striker this season. He’s exactly the type of striker the club needs, he ticks so many boxes. The first one being that he counts towards the home-grown quota, Rangers are losing two players who count towards that in Allan McGregor and Scott Arfield so that’s something they have to consider.
He can play up top on his own or as a pairing. He’s not a dominant aerial threat but he’s intelligent enough to be able to pull defenders out of position to create space and opportunities for his fellow forwards. He also works well with a partner due to his eagerness to break beyond the defensive line to get through on the goalkeeper.
He’s a proven SPFL goal scorer, had he been fit the whole season there’s little doubt he would’ve made the 20 goal mark, a domestic number recent Rangers strikers haven’t been hitting. It shouldn’t be undervalued his ability to perform in this league, there’s always a risk bringing someone in with no SPFL doesn’t work out, that risk is negated if the club go for Nisbet.
The biggest box he ticks though, is value for money. Five months ago he was going to Millwall for £2.2m and now the price seems to be £1m less. Rangers paid more than that for Antonio Colak last summer and he was older, had no SPFL experience and wasn’t homegrown.
On paper this seems like a move Rangers should really be making, maybe Michael Beale has other plans though.
Do you think £1.2m for Kevin Nisbet is a good deal? Would you welcome him at Ibrox?