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Rangers are reportedly eyeing a move for Croatian international Mirko Maric, but is he good enough to be their new number nine?

What's the story?

According to The Express, Maric is viewed as a potential replacement for Alfredo Morelos.

Steven Gerrard was visibly fuming after Morelos’ red card in last month’s Old Firm defeat, and there is a feeling the Colombian could depart Ibrox this summer if the right bid comes in.

The Express claim that Marik, who currently plays for NK Osijek, is on Mark Allen’s shopping list this summer. This really begs the question; does Allen ever learn from his mistakes?

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Third time lucky... or not?

Maric looks a good player, make no mistake about it. The 6 ft 2 target man is only 23, but is the leading scorer in the Croatian top flight with 15 goals, while he also scored once in the Europa League qualification rounds.

However, Maric met Rangers in the following round of the Europa League, and Allen seems to have done all his scouting during that clash.

Eros Grezda and Borna Barisic were both signed from Osijek, and they have both turned out to be absolutely nowhere near the required standard.

One could even argue that Grezda was the standout player for the Croatian outfit during the two-legged tie against the Gers, which is an extremely worrying sign for Maric’s prospects given how poor Grezda has been since his move.

Maric has two Croatia caps to his name and has scored 69 club goals in his career so far, but signing players from a far inferior league is a big risk as the Gers look to close the gap on Celtic.

Quite frankly, after not learning from the double blunder of Grezda and Barisic, it’s a damning indictment of director of football Allen if he pulls the trigger on what would be his third mistake of the same kind.