According to reports in Italy, the excellent left-back has been connected with Old Firm.
Rangers have been linked with a move for a Dutch left-back comparable to Paolo Maldini, only weeks after he was linked with a transfer to Celtic.
Every now and again, Celtic and Rangers are able to sign a cheap player who goes on to do great things in football; Gennaro Gattuso, Henrik Larsson, Virgil van Dijk, and so on. And, while there haven’t been many in recent years, the position and renown of the two Glaswegian giants always enables for elite footballers to be associated with a move to the second city as a result of their accomplishments on the pitch.
And, according to sources in the Netherlands, Ibrox is a possible destination for FC Twente left-back Gijs Smal, who has been branded ‘the next Maldini’.
Smal’s contract expires in the summer, but with Borna Barisic getting older and the jury still out on Ridvan Yilmaz, there could be a vacancy in the left-back ranks for Smal to fill, alongside Verona’s Josh Doig, who has been linked with a’swap deal’ for Yilmaz.
‘Smaldini,’ as he has been dubbed due to his resemblance to AC Milan icon Paolo, joined Twente at the age of 23 and picked up an impressive 10 assists for the former Eredivisie winners last season.
He was valued at £6million last season but will leave in the summer on a free transfer, though if a club stumps up a fee this month they will be able to land him early to avoid competition for his signing – which Twente transfer chief Arnold Bruggink opened up over.
He said: “Of course we would very much like it if Gijs signed a new deal with us. But both parties have to want that. And we have to be realistic about that part of his future sadly.”
Celtic were linked with a move last month given Bernabei’s poor start to life in the green and white shirt, though he would have to contend for game time with Greg Taylor.
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