Antonio Colak has been desired as a “McCoist-type striker” by one of the Rangers strike legend’s former team-mates who watched the Croatian closely for Malmo last season.
Former Sweden star and Ibrox icon Robert Prytz had two spells for Malmo, helping them reach the European Cup final in 1979, and is still based in the city where Colak had a loan stint last season, during which he eliminated Steven Gerrard’s men from the Champions League.
Colak is now set to go from Ibrox villain to potential hero after arriving in Glasgow on Wednesday night for a medical ahead of completing his £1.8 million, three-year deal while Giovanni van Bronckhorst and his squad are in Portugal for a pre-season training camp. And Prytz has backed the 28-year-old for success at his former club, where he spent three years in the early 1980s, winning two League Cups - once he gets up and running as he compared him in style to Ally McCoist.
Colak scored 19 goals during his time in Sweden - the second highest in the Allsvenskan - but Malmo were priced out of a permanent move with Greek side PAOK’s asking fee too high. However, Prytz believes that will be to the benefit of one of his other former cubs.
The 62-year-old told the Sun : “It’s always dangerous to compare players with other players, but he’s more of a McCoist-type striker rather than a target man. From the moment he arrived at Malmo, he looked the part. He fitted in to the way coach Jon Dahl Tomasson wanted them to play right from the start.
“I saw a lot of him last year when he was at Malmo and I think he’ll fit into the Scottish game very well. I expect Colak to do really well at Ibrox. Colak was strong, he could link up play and he was a good goalscorer as well. But he has decent skill too — he has no issue being part of the build-up.
“In only his second game for Malmo he scored against Ostersunds, and that settled him and got him off and running. Colak was consistent and ended the season Malmo’s top scorer as they won the league title on goal difference.
“There was only a guy at Norrkoping (Samuel Adegbenro) who scored more than him in the league last year. He scored twice at Ibrox to help get Malmo into the Champions League group stages, which would have made the club a lot of money.
“But although they were keen to keep Colak they wouldn’t meet the asking price — so their loss is Rangers’ gain. He’s good with both feet and he can be used as a focal point for the team as well. Colak is pretty strong too. The league in Sweden is as physical a test as the Premiership, and he showed he was never fazed by that side of the game.
“He could take a tackle and be competitive while he was here. Colak’s very good around the penalty box. A lot of the goals he scored in Sweden were really decent finishes.”
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