Antonio Colak is determined to fire Rangers to Europe's top table after being the architect of their Champions League downfall last season. The Croatian striker notched a decisive double as Malmo dumped Steven Gerrard's side out of qualifying in summer 2021.
But now the 28-year-old is a Rangers player after signing a three-year to join Giovanni van Bronckhorst 's ranks. And he's set his sights firmly on becoming a hero when the Ibrox side attempt to navigate the treacherous path to the group stage. He said: “I hope I can make it happen. Last year, it was the first full stadium after Covid I think and I remember the game so well.
Colak said: “It was an amazing atmosphere, of course at the end the Rangers fans were a little bit down. But I hope in my time here I can heat them up again. I want to experience this crazy atmosphere, and I am really looking forward to the push from the fans.
“I hope we can celebrate a lot of goals and a lot of wins together. You see how strong this group is already. If it wasn’t an amazing group then they wouldn’t have gone all the way to the Europa League final.
“We just have to keep that same team spirit and build on last season. I will try and bring my best for the team because it’s important that we are all successful.
“You saw last season that it’s so important to be on point in these matches. These games start at the beginning of the season, and you don’t have too much season experience.
“When you play the qualification matches you have to be ready. It is one of our big targets this season, we want to go to the group stage and win titles. For this we have to fight hard.”
Colak is settling into life with his new team-mates after being made to wait for the transfer to be finalised. The forward was linked with Rangers for weeks before a deal was finally struck with PAOK.
He revealed there were other options on the table but that he only had eyes for Glasgow. Colak said: “I hope I can do this. My life is like this, it was never easy, and it was always tough growing up.
“I have had to fight hard for my achievements. Sometimes as a loan player you don’t always have the luck, but always if I stay for a long time I achieve a lot and score a lot of goals.
“I am really looking forward to my time at Rangers. I want to stay for as long as possible and score as many goals as I can.
“Football can be tough at times. You want to settle in somewhere and you want to be happy. I’m really open-minded and open-hearted. I like to meet new people and experience new things.
“All in all, you want to belong somewhere because it can feel more like home. And I think in Rangers I have found that already.
“I have had so many messages and so much support that I feel part of the family and it feels like home already. It is true that I had other options. But when I knew from the start that Rangers wanted me then there was only one choice for me.
“I’ve come to a huge club, a big institution. Everybody knows Rangers and what kind of club it is. It is one of the biggest clubs in the world. For me there was no other choice.”
