What Filip Helander will bring to Rangers as Rino Gattuso provides inside track on 'bargain' transfer
Steven Gerrard is poised to make the Swedish centre-back his eighth signing of the summer as he closes in on a move from Bologna.
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What's a million euros here or there to a guy like
Rino Gattuso?
We are talking here, after all, about a man who only a few months ago waived his right to a massive pay-off from AC Milan when he was sacked as manager and instructed the club to share it out amongst his coaching staff instead.
That’s the thing about winning World Cups and Champions Leagues. The rewards which come with these glories don’t half help to provide a different sense of perspective.
But there’s still a bit of the Glaswegian left inside Gattuso – a legacy of his early playing days at Rangers – which mean he also has an eye for a bargain.
And even though he was unsure yesterday as to exactly how much his old club will end up shelling out in order to sign
Filip Helander from Bologna – there were reports in Italy yesterday claiming the final bill may rise to around £6m – Gattuso is certain of one thing. That
Steven Gerrard has landed himself a bargain.
“I like this player,“ Gattuso growled in his trademark gruff tone as he broke off from a family holiday in Spain to speak to
Record Sport about Gerrard’s intended raid on Serie A.
“He has a good Scandinavian mentality and he’s not a bad defender. I heard today from Italy that the price is around 5m euros – and that’s a good price for him.
“Yes, it’s big money for
Rangers but he’s a good player at that price when you consider the market at this moment. It’s incredible that some players are costing 50 or 55m euros. For 5m euros Rangers have done good business.”
For what it’s worth, sources at Ibrox remain adamant that Helander’s final fee will be a great deal closer to their original bid of £3.5m.
But, in Gattuso’s book at least, a discussion about the precise numbers involved in Gerrard’s eighth purchase of the summer sales is an exercise in splitting hairs.
The one-time midfield warrior has always focused more on the value a player brings with him onto a pitch.
(Image: Action Plus)
And in Helander he likes what he sees. The same can’t automatically be said of Bologna manager Sinisa Mihajlovic?
You can almost see Gattuso shrugging his shoulders as he blows out a sigh of heavy contempt on the other end of the line.
Mihajlovic kicked Helander to the kerb midway through last season after answering an S.O.S from Bologna who had slipped into serious relegation contention under Gattuso’s former AC Milan team-mate Filippo Inzaghi.
Enter ex-Inter talisman Mihajlovic at the end of January. That the Serb managed to lead Bologna to the comfort of a 10th-placed finish in Serie A does not appear to have particularly impressed Gattuso.
Nor for that matter the decision to leave Helander sitting on the sidelines for so long.
Gattuso said: “People say he had a difficult last season in Serie A but for the first two or three months he actually played very well.
“He only had some problems in the last few months under the new manager. So five million euros or whatever is a god price for him.
(Image: SNS Group)
“He’ll be good for the team and the Scottish league. I’m not saying he’ll find it easy in Scotland because it’s not an easy league to play in.
“But he has the right mentality to be successful there. He is very focused, very determined. He is also the kind of player who likes to fight.”
Which is probably why Gattuso likes him. Kindred spirits and all that.
But this feisty side to the Swede’s personality is also what helped him get through a difficult four months at the end of last season, playing just four times under the new man
in charge.
Helander said of his struggle: “It’s true that I haven’t had a lot of games, but in fairness to the coach, the team was doing really well and he didn’t want to change a winning team. But I admit it’s not been much fun for me.
“So the way I have handled it was to train extra and harder. We are a squad and I decided I wanted to help the group by trying to get myself back into the team. The best way to do that was to impress in training. I maintain I have a good relationship with Mihajlovic.
“He’s a good coach. His decision not to play me is to do with football reasons.
“Despite the last few months, I believe I have had a good season. Okay, it wasn’t productive for me at the end of the season because I wasn’t paying, but the team produced some excellent results and I’m a
team player.
“And I think I have become a much better player since I moved to Bologna three years ago.”
All of which demonstrates precisely the sort of battling qualities which are so attractive to a warhorse such as Gattuso.
In fact, as far as the little Italian concerned, it’s impossible to put a price on a positive mental
attitude like that.
He said: “The one thing you can say without any doubt is that Helander will be up for the fight in Scottish football.
“When you play at a club like Rangers you have to always be up for the fight and Helander is at.”