According to ONE_CO_IL via their website, Maccabi Tel Aviv winger/attacking midfielder Parfait Guiagon is wanted by Rangers. The Israeli club will listen to offers for the Ivorian and Rangers have ‘kept a long track of the player’. However they face competition from a top team in the Greek league.
John Park has strong connections in Israel and done a lot of work with Celtic in that area. That suggests there may be some validity to this rumour and Park using his scouting knowledge so the club can test other markets is encouraging. He’s also a former Football Manager wonder kid for those who are into that. There doesn’t seem to be a set asking price for the 22-year-old so it will be interesting to see where the bidding would start.
The Ivorian plays very similarly to Ryan Kent. He likes to cut in from the left side on his right foot and loves to take on defenders. His close control is excellent and at times it seems like the ball is stuck to his feet.
He’s at his best when driving forward with the ball and if he doesn’t manage to get a shot off himself he’s a good creator for the team. Similarly to Kent, again, he gets fouled a lot in dangerous positions which creates attackingopportunities for his team.
Unfortunately though, the similarities to Kent don’t end there. His end product numbers are also similar to the English winger. In 25 domestic league matches he has three goals and two assists. Not highly encouraging numbers from a player who you expect to be one of your main attacking threats.
Through watching some of his play this season it’s clear the assist numbers should be higher, like Kent he didn’t have other clinical forwards to work with. The Israeli league, similar to the Greek league, has a reputation of being defensive and a difficult league to get ridiculous numbers in. The numbers may improve should he come to Rangers. All the attributes are there for a player that can contribute to at least 15/20 goals a season.
How do you feel about this link? Is it encouraging that the club are not expanding their scouting range? Is this a position you feel the club need to strengthen?