Rangers FC have tonight announced the appointment of 38 year old player finder Nils Koppen from PSV as Director of football recruitment.
The Belgian follows a club ethos of utilising knowledge from the Belgian market. He had previously worked alongside manager Phillipe Clement at Genk between 2016-2018.
Koppen also worked in the youth academy in a scouting aspect while Clement was manager of the first team squad.
He comes with a vast experience and knowledge across football having previously had roles within Belgian football before moving to PSV, where he previously worked in the academy before being appointed head of scouting, unearthing gems in PSV’s similar player trading model to good effect.
Where as we have seen in recent seasons players such as Cody Gakpo bagging the Eindhoven club a handsome profit – a move the Rangers board will be hoping the Belgian can bring to Rangers.
He joins Celgian compatriot Zeb Jacobs, manager Phillipe Clement and a vast array of talent secured from the Belgian top flight in recent seasons by Rangers so he should be made to feel at home when he starts work in January 2nd. Koppen will however have a smaller budget at Rangers and a harder challenge.
Who is the next big Sale in the player trading model at Ibrox
Nicolas Raskin
The Belgian under 21 international has shown what he can produce in short spells in his time at Rangers, most notablely away to Servette in the champions league qualifier when the midfielder took the game by the scruff of the neck, assisting Rangers into the next round of the competition and a 5 million bonus for reaching the playoff stage of the Champions League.
The 22 year old midfielder has undoubted potential to fill yet at Ibrox.
He has one goal and one assist so far this season, in what has been an indifferent season for the former Standard Liege midfielder he has been used in different midfield roles so far this season.
Under former Rangers manager Michael Beale, Raskin was normally used as a number 6, staying in front of defence and conducting the play from deep. Since new Rangers manager and Belgian counterpart Phillipe Clement has taken over, he has appeared to play more as a box to box midfielder which could release the midfielders potential.
He is currently out with a muscle injury and I will watch with intrigue what the midfielder can produce under the new Rangers manager.
Jack Butland
Butland has hit the glass ceiling since signing for Rangers in the summer and was linked with a move to ambitious championship side Birmingham City. The Englishman is a saleable asset for the Ibrox club, who need to sell players before buying in January. The new DOF will be looking for some funds and moving Butland on may be a necessity for Rangers to get their player trading model in action.
Scott Wright
The Rangers playmaker had started well under Rangers manager Phillipe Clement but has not been seen in the last few weeks due to injury.
He was almost away to Turkey in the summer when Rangers had agreed a fee for the player but he was unable to agree personal terms. There was rumoured interest from Preston North End in the summer and maybe there will be more interest in the player as Rangers will look to recoup some funds to allow manager Phillipe Clement to build on his promising start to life in Glasgow.
Todd Cantwell
The Englishman signed from Norwich in January ona reduced fee and has found game time hard to come by under the new Rangers boss, a sellable asset there would be a long list of English championship clubs lining the playmaker up should Rangers make him available on the market.
Cross border Rulling
Rangers have made positive moves using this transfer strategy in the past and could be revisited with the appointment of Head of performance of Tom Taylor from Brighton and Hove Albion. The club have previously signe players like Calvin Bassey and Joe Aribo which has made the club profit when selling the players on. Tom Taylor will have a vast array of knowledge of players who could come in with a similar idea to sell them on for a larger fee at a later date.
This is a positive move from the club and moves us in a new direction, We will await to see if it pays off but we must give them time to turn around what has been a bad spell of transfers for the club.