He might be an ex-pat Scotsman, living and working in the USA. But when it comes to grasping the finer details of German football, Derek Rae is a walking, talking encyclopedia.
The ESPN commentator gets up at the crack of dawn every morning just to keep on top of the breaking news coming out of his beloved Bundesliga. So even though he’s stuck on the other side of the pond, it most certainly hasn’t escaped his notice that Rangers are currently embarking on a summer recruitment drive which could see them pluck two young talents from the fringes of Bayern Munich and Schalke.
Welsh speed merchant Rabbi Matondo has been granted leave from Schalke’s pre-season camp in order to thrash out a deal to take him to Ibrox. USMNT frontman Malik Tillman, meanwhile, could follow him to Glasgow if, as now seems likely, Giovanni van Bronckhorst is priced out of a move for £7m playmaker Angelo Fulgini – a player Rae might be commentating on next season now that the Frenchman seems on the brink of moving to Mainz.
There’s much for him to keep tabs on then as the summer window hots up. But Rae warns that, if Rangers do secure this creative double signing, the club’s fans should not expect them to arrive as finished articles, just because they’ve been spirited away from Germany’s top division.
He said: “I’ve obviously seen the reports this morning and it’s certainly interesting to see Rangers linked with emerging young talent from the Bundesliga. But if I’m being honest, both of these players still have quite a bit to prove.”
In the case of Tillman, Rae is still not sure of the 20-year-old’s best position, even if Bayern boss Julian Nagelsmann was periodically using the kid as back up for star striker Robert Lewandowski last season.
Rae said: “When he was in the reckoning at Bayern it was as a reserve striker for Lewandowski but I’m not sure people really know what Tillman’s best position is. He’s more of a playmaker than a traditional centre forward or a pure finisher. And I think he would say that himself.
“He suffered a bad cruciate injury in October 2020, playing for Bayern’s reserves in the Third Division. So last season was a comeback season.
"The Bayern reserves got relegated to the Fourth Division and he was bouncing around there but he also found himself in the first-team squad from time to time.
“But there is a lot of uncertainty around how Bayern are going to set up next season. Lewandowski still seems like he’s going to leave but he’s due back at training this week.
“Sadio Mane has joined from Liverpool, another striker will come in if Lewandowski goes and they already have really strong attacking talents like Leroy Sane, Serge Gnabry and Kinglsey Coman.
“So where does that leave someone like Tillman? It’s almost make or break for him so you can understand if he’s got itchy feet and maybe thinks he needs to be playing every week at a reasonable level.
“There is no doubt he is a talented young man and that talent was recognised by Germany’s Under-21s for whom he was a fairly important player. If he were at any other club in the Bundesliga he might be more on the fringe of the first team but at Bayern it’s just so difficult to breakthrough. So you can see why Rangers would identify him as a player who can help them and who they could potentially prise away.”
Nagelsmann has also been keeping a close eye on Tillman’s development and, during one press conference last season, the manager urged the youngster to come out of his shell in order to make the grade at a club nicknamed FC Hollywood.
Rae went on: “Nagelsmann is a guy who chooses his words carefully. He did make a point of saying that Tillman is an introverted kind of guy. He wanted him to become more extroverted and more of a leader. It was an interesting thing for the manager to say.
“What I do know is that over here in the USA there’s a lot of excitement about the fact he has committed his international future to them because that’s something he said for a while he wasn’t going to do. He had played for Germany’s Under-21s and had pledged his future to the German national team. But obviously the lure of playing at the World Cup this year has helped to change his mind along with the fact that, let’s face it, it’s easier to get into the USA team than it is the Germany team.”
Welsh international Matondo, on the other hand, hit the Bundesliga like a road runner after clinching an £11m move from Manchester City. But Rae says the 21-year-old ran out of steam in a Schalke shirt which is why he was farmed out to Belgian side Cercle Brugge.
But even if Rae believes the jet paced youngster requires some ‘polishing’, he believes Rangers could be landing a rough diamond if they persuade the Welshman to put pen to paper.
He said: “Matondo is an interesting one because when he first signed for Schalke everyone noticed his blistering pace. That was his stand out attribute above all other things. But at the same time, it was clear he had a bit of learning to do in terms of game awareness and maybe on the technical side as well.
“Matondo is a player of some potential –there is a lot of rounding off to do – but you could see why he would be of interest to Rangers. I’m sure Gio van Bronckhorst has looked at him and thought, ‘this is a player we could polish a little bit in the years ahead’.”
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