3 years after leaving, Naderi’s £400k upgrade is more than any Rangers player

Fingers and toes are being crossed at Ibrox, with concerns rife over the injury status of Glasgow Rangers striker Ryan Naderi following the German side’s exit on Saturday.

The 22-year-old, signed in a £4.7m deal on deadline day, had just scored his first Premiership goal for the club 15 minutes earlier, ending a drought after scoring twice in the Scottish Cup.

Having also assisted Mike Moore against Aberdeen before the international break, the Hansa Rostock man looked set to get a chance as a centre-forward alongside Danny Rohl, ensuring it would be cruel if he were to miss the rest of the campaign.

That much is yet to be decided, although during this anxious wait, it’s a good time to look a little under the surface of how Naderi’s life in Glasgow has gone.

Naderi’s start to life in the Premiership comes at a price

Having competed in Germany’s third division, before moving to Ibrox in the winter, there was always a period of adaptation required, given Naderi’s previous limited experience at the top level.

For his former employers, the youngster had scored 13 goals in 45 games, eight of which came in the first half of the season, highlighting the gamble Rangers took on his addition.

Indeed, from eight Premiership games so far, five of them from the start, he boasts a solitary goal and a solitary assist.

Related

Rohl could replace Naderi by releasing the Rangers star who is not even a striker

Danny Rohl could relieve Ryan Naderi from injury by letting go of a superstar who isn’t even a middle infielder.

Considered to be nine and a half, in the skin of his compatriot Thomas Muller, Naderi has not flourished creatively yet, failing to create a single ‘big chance’, averaging 0.5 key passes per game and recording an accuracy rate of 68%.

In front of goal, he missed five ‘big chances’ and has a goal conversion rate of 7%. Fellow top scorer Youssef Chermiti has missed 15 ‘big chances’ this season, despite boasting a 15% goal conversion rate.

There is a will for Naderi to succeed, and given his youth, patience will certainly be required, and it may take time for him to truly blossom into a true star under Rohl’s watch.

The road to success is not always smooth, as one former Rangers player knows all about.

The Guardians have already let the Naderi development go

In a season where the Ibrox bosses have splashed the cash on three young strikers, it all says that the club’s long-time leading scorer is right-back James Tavernier, and the aging captain remains top scorer with 14 goals in all competitions.

Bojan Miovski, brought back to Scottish football from Girona, is the only other player to reach double figures in 2025/26, the Macedonian scoring his 11th goal for the club against Dundee United at the weekend.

The mixed fortunes of Rohl’s current strikers have brought a lot of focus on those who have left the club in recent times, with Mateusz Zukowski’s story representing one of Rangers’ strangest stories in recent times.

The Polish talent had originally signed for the Light Blues on a £400k deal in 2022, however he went on to make the club’s one-on-one clash with Annan Athletic in the Scottish Cup.

Zukowski was signed with the intention of being Tavernier’s successor at right-back, yet he is the best player in the position since his departure, having been reborn after that change this season.

After leaving Ibrox to return to Poland in the summer of 2023, the 24-year-old headed to Germany to join Magdeburg in September, sparking this incredible goal-scoring run.

Now in April, the defender-turned-striker has scored 15 goals in all competitions, more than any player back at Ibrox, and all comers in the league.

Such a rating is even more impressive when you consider that he missed the first half of the campaign with a foot injury, and his first appearance in the Bundesliga.2 until the end of November.

Working in the league more than Naderi’s previous employers, Zukowski has been dominant, hitting back-to-back braces in his last two games.

Despite missing 11 ‘big chances’ so far, his goal conversion rate stands at 23%, while averaging 1.3 key passes per game, a record higher than Naderi’s.

With a goal every 94 minutes in Germany’s second division, the Pole puts those at Ibrox to shame with his clinical finishing skills.

Not too bad for a right back, right?