Ally McCoist reckons Rangers were forced to sell Nikica Jelavic for less than half his true value.
The Croatia hitman returns to Glasgow this week for the first time since leaving to sign for Everton just weeks before the Ibrox club entered administration. Jelavic could lead the line for his country in Tuesday’s World Cup qualifier against Scotland.
And McCoist still feels aggrieved at the £5m transfer fee the club accepted for Jelavic when you compare it to deals involving other strikers.
“Nikica gave us a couple of great years, although I was a little bit disappointed in the manner he left the club,” said McCoist. “It was common knowledge the club was struggling financially, and we were going to sell him whether we liked it or not.
“But that should take nothing away from the service he gave us for those two years because I thought he was terrific for us.
“Every penny we had went into him when we signed him from Rapid. And I was disappointed with the money we got for him going to Everton.
“Steven Fletcher, who’s another centre-forward I admire, went for something like £13m within weeks of Jelavic going. I really like Steven. He’s a good centre-forward, probably a certain starter for Scotland this week against Croatia if he was fit.
“Darren Bent, who I like as well, went for £19m. But you can’t tell me there’s £12m or £14m worth of a difference between Jelavic and these boys. Not in a million years. Davie Moyes absolutely knows he got Jelavic at a snip and good on him. If I was in Davie’s shoes, I’d have done the exact same thing.
“He’s never admitted the theft as yet. But I’m sure over a glass of something one night he will!”
McCoist reckons Jelavic provided Rangers with excellent service throughout his time at Ibrox, and believes he’ll have to be watched closely by the Scotland defence if he starts for Croatia.
He said: “I thought Jelavic was a top, top player. I went to see him in Austria a couple of times when the gaffer sent me over. He just looked to have something different. He was not a No. 10-type creator more of an old-fashioned centre-forward.
“He had all sorts of finishes headers, left foot, right foot. He scored with a volley at Pittodrie what a goal that was. And he scored a goal in the League Cup Final against Celtic which just went over the line. He could bend one in with his left foot, he could smash them in, get a tap-in and he was good in the air.
“If you kept him on the park, there was always a chance something could happen.”
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