Respected Dutch analyst says Rangers attacker is worth £30M – but he needs to play | OneFootball

Kevin Thelwell has come under fire for so many of the pricey additions he made to Rangers this summer. Additions which have added no value to the club. However there’s one signing Thelwell secured that really was a coup, even if Rangers are yet to reap the rewards. Rangers paid £5M for Oliver Antman, with a Dutch football analyst (Joost van der Leij) confirming the Fin’s career and achievements at Go Ahead Eagles put him in the £30M range.

He said:

This was a bargain, and his stats in Holland confirm it: 21 goals and assists in 32 appearances was a stunning turnaround for the winger, and Joost van der Leij pegged him for a robbery.

But it’s not quite worked at Ibrox yet for the Scandinavian.

Under Russell Martin, his debut v Plzen was electric. Freedom to play the way he wanted to and he tore the pitch up. He looked the £30M winger already.

Stifle

But once Martin got to him, he coached it out of him, stifled him.

And unfortunately for Antman, new coach Danny Rohl generally doesn’t play with wingers.

Rangers have three or four wide men, in Antman, Gassama, Moore and technically Matondo as well. None of these are seeing minutes except Moore who has a clause in his loan deal to guarantee appearances. It’s part of such a lucrative loan. And even he isn’t playing in what we believed was his natural wing slot, but as a 10.

That’s Rohl’s preference, which means Thelo Aasgaard isn’t featuring a lot.

Fading

Antman? He’s really faded.

We discussed how Rohl is shaping his system to suit his players, but ultimately like any coach he has his preferences, and he will always prefer playing narrower with wingbacks offering the width.

Which means that superstar Antman doesn’t really have much of a role right now under this coach.

He and the other wingers are going to have to be content with biding their time, but there’s no doubt Rangers have an asset here.

There were hints of his level against Brann, with some excellent runs and crosses, but the rest of the team was not on that level or wavelength.

To remind you what van der Leij said:

In 2023:

Last summer:

Rangers paid £5M for Oliver Antman and time will tell if Oliver Antman is truly given the chance to show his quality.