Rangers' transfer window could be about to come to life in the shape of a man who haunted Ibrox last season. It's understood the club are interested in a move for PAOK striker Antonio Colak as Giovanni van Bronckhorst looks to bolster his attacking options.
Colak scored twice for Malmo in summer 2021 as the Swedes dumped Rangers out of Champions League qualifying but he's since returned to parent club PAOK after a loan spell with the Swedes. Reports from Greece claim an opening offer for the 26-year-old has been rejected and although a second approach is not imminent, he remains of interest to Van Bronckhorst, we can confirm.
PAOK appear keen to either sell or loan out Colak and their manager – former Romania boss Razvan Lucescu and son of veteran boss Mircea – has underlined why he rates Colak so highly. He said: "Antonio gives 150 per cent to training and to games. It makes no difference to him whether he starts or comes on as a sub, his workrate is the same. He is one of the most hard-working players I have ever been involved with. I have only good things to say about him.
"It doesn't matter what league Antonio plays in, he would score goals anywhere he plays. When he returned to us after his loan spell in Sweden, you would have perhaps expected his confidence to have dropped slightly because he had problems here when he first signed. But he quickly showed that wasn't true and is a hugely important player for us.
"He's quick, smart and good with the ball at his feet. There are so many ways he can break up a defence. In Greek football, we play against teams that do not give much space and you have to create it and he is excellent at doing that. He is a player who has my complete trust."
Using data from Instat, Record Sport Online takes a closer look at Colak.
Key attributes
In terms of physical attributes, Colak would bring greater presence to Rangers' attack. Standing at 188cm, he's roughly the same height as the now departed Cedric Itten and is of similar build.
Colak was largely described as a target man earlier in his career but footage from his spell at Malmo spell shows a player who is also capable of running channels with intelligent movement.
He scored 19 times in 40 appearances last season for both the Swedes and PAOK, a decent return but with a chance conversion rate of 24 per cent which suggests he could improve further.
Footage of Colak's goals show plenty of first-time finishes after moving cleverly to fashion space for himself - his first against Rangers themselves being a prime example.
The forward peels away from his marker before quickly adjusting his feet to fire first time across Allan McGregor from a difficult angle.
His second is textbook target man play, receiving the ball with his back to goal from a throw-in, rolling Leon Balogun and again finishing from a difficult position.
Colak's heatmap from last season, showing the positions he most takes up on the pitch, points to a player happy to limit dropping deep to get involved but one who remains comfortable being a focal point for getting his team into the final third. He's comfortable taking the ball while facing away from goal and helping bring other players into the game.
The same heatmap shows he will also peel into channels to mix things up and is happy to move either left or right.
And while he's not the type to cover every inch of the pitch, Colak is a willing worker off the ball, as evidenced by his PAOK manager's above comments.
What would he bring to Rangers?
Colak would bring greater variety to Rangers' forward options and fits with the striking profile Van Bronckhorst suggested last year he prefers.
After taking over from Steven Gerrard, the Dutchman implemented an immediate tweak to Alfredo Morelos' game, instructing the striker to spend more time in the 18-yard box as he placed greater emphasis on using traditional wingers as a primary form of attack.
Van Bronckhorst is also likely to target a right winger, therefore it makes tactical sense to complement such an addition with a penalty box striker.
The above graphic shows how Colak's goals almost all arrived from within the 18-yard box, with a number also coming from inside the six-yard box.
Rangers have been too reliant on Morelos' goals in recent seasons and with Roofe often encountering injury problems, an alternative and reliable goalscorer is very much needed.
Comparisons
Colak outscored both Morelos and Kemar Roofe last season, albeit both Rangers players missed a considerable portion of the season with injury.
He has a chance conversion rate similar to that of Morelos but worse than Roofe, who converted 30 per cent of his opportunities.
Colak attempted more shots per 90 minutes (2.3) than Roofe (2.1) but fewer than Morelos (3.8) who, in fairness, is notorious for pulling the trigger at every available opportunity.
In terms of chances, Colak had a total of 84 across the season, compared to Morelos' 94 and Roofe's 61.
To give some context to these numbers, Colak played for two dominant sides in Malmo and PAOK last season, much like Rangers are in Scotland.
It suggests his overall numbers wouldn't get much of a bounce from moving to Ibrox, as opposed to arriving from a team who didn't boss matches and where chances came at a premium.
But his attacking output is comparable to that of Morelos and Roofe while providing a different threat to Van Bronckhorst's current duo.
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