HE was a fan favourite during his time at Ibrox, even if it was short and sweet.
Rangers fans thought he would return for a second stint at the club but he decided to continue his career elsewhere – and now he’s on the verge of a big-money move to the Premier League.
Malik TIllman celebrates with his PSV teammates[/caption]
Tillman scored 12 goals during his time at Rangers[/caption]
In the summer of 2022, the Light Blues were coming off a Europa League final appearance and then-manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst was hoping to build on that with a Champions League run and a charge at toppling Celtic in the league.
As it turned out the Gers had a torrid time back in Europe‘s top tier and Ange Postecoglou‘s Hoops proved too good for them to catch, with van Bronckhorst paying the price for the poor form with his job in November of that year.
Many Rangers fans felt the Dutchman wasn’t properly backed in that summer transfer window however.
Fair chunks of money were spent on Ben Davies and Ridvan Yilmaz but neither were able to crack the starting XI on a regular basis under van Bronckhorst.
Antonio Colak cost £1.8m but his face never really seemed to fit, while the £2.5m spent on Rabbi Matondo has certainly left a lot to be desired, not least because of his injury issues.
Arguably the two greatest contributors of that window were John Souttar and Tom Lawrence, both of whom came in on free transfers.
But the other argument would be that the best player, period, to arrive in the summer of 2022 was Malik Tillman.
The American international would go on to play a huge role in helping Rangers reach the Champions League and he would be crowned Young Player of the Year by PFA Scotland, despite his loan from Bayern Munich having to be cut short due to injury.
Tillman scored 12 goals in 43 games before he was sent back to Germany for treatment, and supporters hoped he would return for the next season.
But he instead opted to join PSV Eindhoven on another loan deal, who then signed him on a permanent basis this year.
While the move meant Rangers earned some cash as a sell-on, the Ibrox club would surely have liked to have had the player on their books.
That’s because he’s gone from strength to strength in the Eredivisie and is now attracting interest from Aston Villa, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, according to Sky Germany.
The attacking midfielder is understood to have a release clause in the region of 30-40m euros.
Tillman bagged a double in midweek for PSV to remind Gers fans what they have missed out on.
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