The news that Rangers are exploring a loan deal for the long-tracked Danish winger Andreas Skov-Olsen has been welcomed for two primary reasons.
Firstly, although only a loan is under discussion at present, with Skov-Olsen having moved to Wolfsburg from Club Brugge for €14m last summer and remaining under contract until 2029, this is an ambitious target.
Sources suggest that while a move for the 26-year-old still has work to be done, and insist that Skov-Olsen is one of several attacking targets in what is shaping up to be a January full of contingency plans, the exploration of such a deal highlights the profile Rangers are seeking. This is not another squad option, but a potential difference-maker and if the club have their way, Skov Olsen appears the option they'd land on.
Tochi Chukwuani, signed from Sturm Graz on Sunday, and Tuur Rommens, who will arrive this week, are both 22. While they bring solid first-team experience and caps for Denmark and Belgium Under-21s respectively, neither is the finished article. Much like the attacking unit of Djeidi Gassama (22), Thelo Aasgaard (23), Youssef Chermiti (21) and Mikey Moore (18), Rangers hope they will develop into better players at Ibrox.
To win a title, a level of certainty is required in the final third, and interest in Skov-Olsen, or players of a similar profile, demonstrates the club’s recognition of the need to replicate the impact made by Vaclav Cerny last season. Despite playing in a struggling side, Cerny contributed 27 goals and assists.
Secondly, the data support the idea that this is exactly what is required to make Danny Rohl’s title challenge more realistic. Skov-Olsen recorded 49 goals and 29 assists across three-and-a-half seasons at Club Brugge, a proven track record at a high level.
Sunday’s impressively routine away win at Pittodrie was the latest in a growing run of form—11 wins in 14 matches under Rohl, the best record in the league over that period. Set-pieces and clean sheets continue to push marginal gains in Rangers’ favour.
However, there is internal acceptance that Rohl lacks sufficient firepower in the final third. In short, Rangers are not creating enough in open play, and if they are to win the title, that will need to change.
This can be illustrated through underlying metrics such as expected goals (xG) and expected assists (xA). xG estimates the likelihood of a shot resulting in a goal based on factors such as location, angle and shot type, while xA measures the probability that a pass will become an assist by evaluating the quality of the chance created.
Rangers’ open-play xG of 1.02 per 90 represents a significant drop from last season’s 1.43 and the 1.48 posted the campaign before. Celtic, likely to stabilise under Martin O’Neill, have scored just one set-play goal compared to Rangers’ 12 in the league. Nevertheless, they are averaging more goals per 90 (1.81) than Rohl’s Rangers (1.55), and as the chart below shows, their chance creation in open play is roughly a third higher.
Rohl has frequently altered his system to combat injuries and tailor his approach to opponents during his short tenure. Without the benefit of a pre-season and with limited training time, this has been his primary method of delivering results. However, as he has acknowledged, constant changes in shape and personnel hinder the development of attacking relationships. The fluidity required to manipulate space and break down organised defences is currently lacking.
As Rohl explained last month: "Against the ball, we see in every game a clear structure… the next step is now also to improve in possession.”
Without a defined attacking identity, chance creation often becomes reliant on individual brilliance, outside of chaotic, transition-heavy matches such as the win over Motherwell. Put simply, Rohl does not currently have a player capable of replicating the influence Skov-Olsen could provide.
Rangers’ xG assisted chart underlines this point. In basic terms, it highlights which players are generating the most quality chances for teammates in open play.
Nico Raskin has been his team’s most creative player this season, averaging 0.15 xA per 90. In league-wide terms, that ranks him joint-14th. For Rangers’ leading creator to sit 17th overall is far from ideal.
Last season, although six of the league’s top ten creators were Celtic players, Rangers at least had two, Cerny and Danilo, within that bracket.
James Tavernier’s open-play creativity has halved from last season (down to 0.05). Bojan Miovski and Derek Cornelius post higher numbers, though these are influenced by limited minutes and a small sample size, with both creating high-quality chances, most notably for Mo Diomande’s winner at Livingston and Miovski’s strike away at Falkirk. Danilo, Rangers’ most creative player statistically last season (0.29), has seen his numbers decline sharply to 0.08 while operating as a fixed No.9.
Mikey Moore and Gassama (both at 0.10) prefer operating from the left and have combined for just three assists. Aasgaard (0.09) impressed at Pittodrie but is more of a goal threat than a natural creator.
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Last season, Rangers had three players creating at a clearly higher level: Danilo (0.29), Cerny (0.22) and Ianis Hagi (0.19). It is no coincidence that the team’s strongest spell came when the trio played alongside Hamza Igamane over the festive period.
For further context, the league’s three most creative players this season are all Celtic: Reo Hatate (0.26), Kieran Tierney (0.23) and Daizen Maeda (0.21). Celtic have three players exceeding Raskin’s 0.15.
Hearts, meanwhile, have Alexandros Kyziridis (0.20) ahead of Rangers’ top creator, while Claudio Braga and Lawrence Shankland also sit on 0.15. That trio has elevated Derek McInnes’ well-organised side at the sharp end of the pitch, providing a consistent attacking output that Rohl’s team currently lacks.
This is precisely what Cerny delivered last season. In an inconsistent side, he was the constant. Aged 26 when he joined Rangers on loan, his decision-making was reliable and repeatable, allowing him to capitalise on moments others did not and convert half-chances into goals and assists.
Although Oliver Antman, signed as his replacement, started brightly, his impact has not come close to matching Cerny’s influence.
As shown below in a radar taken from Skov Olsen's final half-season at Brugge, his final third numbers were outstanding. The higher the percentile below, the better.
- xG: 0.34 (97th percentile)
- Shots: 2.97 (94th percentile)
- Shot OBV: 0.23 (99th percentile)
- PAdj Pressures: 8.3 (80th percentile)
- Pass OBV: 0.10 (90th percentile)
- Open Play xG Assisted: 0.21 (84th percentile)
- Dribble & Carry OBV: 0.15 (91st percentile)
- Fouls Won: 1.19 (21st percentile)
- Turnovers: 2.86 (84th percentile)
- Touches in Box: 4.23 (77th percentile)
- xG/Shot: 0.11 (83rd percentile)
Could another Wolfsburg loanee provide a similar return? The data suggests that Rohl and Rangers urgently require a player capable of replacing the lost goal contributions from the right wing this summer.
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