Breaking News:Philippe Clement insists Rangers have plan to deal with 18 goal Malmö striker he ‘knows
Rangers manager Philippe Clement is familiar with one player in particular ahead of the Europa League clash with Malmö.
Whilst the likes of Erik Botheim and Anders Christiansen have stolen the headlines ahead of the clash in Sweden, it’s another Malmö forward with whom Clement is familiar.
The Rangers manager has also spent time in charge of Waasland-Beveren, KRC Genk, Club Brugge and AS Monaco and it’s in his first job in Belgium where he met Isaac Kiese Thelin.
Ahead of the Europa League clash between Rangers and Malmö, Philippe Clement has been touching on his relationship with the Swedish striker.
READ MORE: Clement ‘very clear’ about Rangers future amid exit speculation
Philippe Clement knows all about Malmö striker
Back in 2017, the now 32-year-old Isaac Kiese Thelin was turning out for Belgian side Anderlecht.
But after Beveren sold first-choice striker Zinho Gano to KV Oostende, Clement moved to bring the Swedish striker in on loan.
It was a productive season for Thelin under the Belgian manager too, the striker scoring 19 league goals as Beveren finished 12th in the Belgian Pro League.
Asked about his relationship with his former striker, Philippe Clement hailed Isaac Kiese Thelin and claims he’s already told his Rangers team all about the forward.
“I took him on loan after the club sold my striker after the first three games of the season,” Clement told the press ahead of the clash in Sweden.
“Isaac came from Anderlecht on loan and he did a really good job.
“I like him really much as a player but also as a person. He’s a great person, he’s a great team player. He works really hard, he scored a lot of goals with me also.
“So it was really important that season to get really good results to grow with that team above the level that they had before.
“I know him well so I know his strong points. I will talk about that, we’ve done already, like we do with every player. There’s no difference with that.
“These days you can see so many games, you can go so deep and analyse because you have also a team of analysts in your club.
“So in that way it’s not a big difference with knowing a player from before or seeing him on a video.
“Of course (we talk about weaknesses) but every player has his strong points and his weaknesses, otherwise they would not play in Malmö or Rangers but in a much bigger team.”
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