Rangers transfer scouting: The Celtic-slayer that could fill goalscoring midfielder void

After his terrific first season, Scott Arfield is no longer able to be that kind of player. Ryan Jack, Glen Kamara, Steven Davis & John Lundstram haven't been that player and likely won't be whilst Joe Aribo has proven to be loads of good things but a reliable goalscorer isn't one of them.

Rounding off the midfield options are Ianis Hagi who hasn't been a prolific goalscorer anywhere outside of Romania and Alex Lowry who shouldn't carry a meaningful burden even if he is as good as we all think.

A candidate to fill the gaping hole Rangers have is Hugo Vetlesen.

Bodø/Glimt is becoming a fairly good place to scout in the last few years with Hakon Evjen, Patrick Berg, and Jens Peter Hauge all moving to better leagues. More recently, Erik Botheim and & Ola Solbakken's list of suitors seems to cover half of Europe. Hugo Vetlesen will no doubt join that list in the near future.

Hugo Vetlesen is a 22-year-old Norwegian under 21 international who plays on the right-hand side of a midfield three with Bodø/Glimt. If you recognise the name and you're not sure where from, it's likely due to him scoring two and setting up one against Celtic in last season's Europa Conference League. He's currently contracted for another 18 months so selling time may be approaching for the Norwegian champions.

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But what would he bring to this Rangers team?

Firstly it's important to mention how well-coached this Bodø/Glimt side is. Kjetil Knutsen has moulded this team in his own image so much that losing huge players doesn't really impact on the style of football on show.

It's a team that makes good decisions and reaps the benefits of it. They’re all largely technically good enough for their role and the patterns of play could be performed in their sleep. Vetlesen would be arriving with the muscle memory of what a good job looks like making any adaptation period hopefully more minimal than normal.

Bodø/Glimt largely play 4-3-3 and the midfield three tends to be fairly flat in buildup play. Vetlesen is not desired to be a large part of this, however. Vetlesen like to stretch the pitch by moving towards the touchline in the build-up as Glen Kamara does but the intention isn't to give him the ball, it's to stretch the forward line creating passing lanes through the middle. The difference between how Kamara was used and how Vetlesen is used is that Vetlesen remains an attacking player in those situations.

Once the ball has progressed beyond him, Vetlesen essentially becomes a number 10. He'll make his way from the touchline infield and in behind the opposition midfield to receive passes. Vetlesen is designed to be on the end of the 8th or 9th pass, not tasked with the 1st or 2nd.

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He appears to have a good understanding of when to remain in that 10-type space and when to go beyond the striker. Alfredo Morelos drops deeper better and more often than Runar Espejord which will allow Vetlesen to be closer to goal at Rangers than Bodø/Glimt.

In those 10-type spaces, he does a lot of the right things whilst creation isn't really is game. Vetlesen takes the ball on the half-turn and goes at defenders. He looks like a wide player with a lot of a wide player skillset but plays centrally. He's really mobile for a central player. Dribbling with speed is his most refined skill at the moment which is another thing Rangers midfielders lack.

In a system that tends to thrive in transitional games, Vetlesen can be a factor in turning defence into attack without allowing the opposition to get back into shape.

The initial question remains, can this midfielder score goals? My verdict would be that he can score goals he just hasn't done so as of yet.

For me, his finishing is promising. He's calm in front of goal, he shoots with composed power and has good placement. Vetlesen's issue is he isn't consistently getting good chances. His movement is really good into the box but he isn't found due to someone else receiving the pass or the opposition intervening. It's a projection but my money's on Hugo Vetlesen getting better chances at Rangers and in turn getting more goals.

Hugo Vetlesen Dribbling/Goals

Where can he improve?

As said previously Vetlesen looks like a wide player which means he's got the physique of a wide player. He looks a bit like Scott Wright or Ianis Hagi when they arrived at the club. There's no issue with work rate or intensity in running but sometimes other players are able to win the ball because a lack of physique can't help you protect it. That's easily fixed.

Vetlesen has to be more creative if he joined Rangers. Again, his best work is done around the box combining as he did at Celtic Park for Espejord's goal but has a habit of drifting towards the wide-area to put crosses in & that isn't what Rangers need. If James Tavernier is going to cross it, Vetlesen has to be in the box and hopefully on the end of it. He's good at attacking the box for crosses & cutbacks but could be in there more often. Rangers need goals, not creativity.

Rangers need an attacking midfielder that does more attacking than the defensive side of the game. Bodø/Glimt will lose Ola Solbakken for nothing this winter and may just want to deal Hugo Vetlesen in this year to avoid a similar situation next year.

He is certainly one player for Ross Wilson and co to consider.