MANY eyebrows were no doubt raised when it emerged that Rangers’ search for a new striker had taken them to the third tier of German football.
But recent history shows that it maybe shouldn’t be that surprising.
Rangers want to sign Ryan Naderi and have launched a £2.6million bid to land him from Hansa Rostock.
The Gers want Naderi and Naderi wants to move to Ibrox, although there appear to be a couple of things that need ironed out between the clubs before things can proceed towards becoming a done deal.
The towering 22-year old, who stands at 6ft4in tall, has found some form this season, netting eight times in 17 games in the 3.Liga, the aforementioned third tier in Germany.
The Light Blues’ need for a new striker is a rather obvious one.
£8million summer signing Youssef Chermiti has become an important player in Danny Rohl‘s side but the former Everton man hasn’t been able to find a prolific streak, netting just four goals this season.
Four goals, albeit, that included a superb double at Parkhead as the Gers beat Celtic 3-1.
The other big striker recruit from the summer window, Bojan Miovski, has also struggled.
The deadly goalscoring form that made him one of Scottish football’s top strikers while an Aberdeen player has deserted him.
OUR BEST FREE BETS & SIGN-UP OFFERS
While he’s netted eight goals, only three of those have come in the league.
Hence the need for reinforcements up front for the Gers’ title bid.
But while Naderi’s age, form and physical attributes offer reasons behind Rangers‘ interest, the fact he’s plying his trade in the THIRD tier is what raised eyebrows.
However – recent history shows that the 3.Liga has been somewhat of a happy hunting ground as far as moulding top strikers goes.
Naderi could become the latest in a relatively extensive list of strikers who in recent years have found their form in the division, earned a big move and simply gone from strength to strength.
SunSport takes a look at some of those players.
Nick Woltemade
The obvious place to start is with Newcastle striker Nick Woltemade.
The 23-year old has enjoyed what can only be described as a remarkable and rapid rise in the game.
And it’s all thanks to a spell in the German third tier.
Woltemade was highly rated as a youngster and was signed to Werder Bremen’s academy aged seven.
Over the next decade, he worked his way through the ranks and at the beginning of 2020, he was called into the first team.
Woltemade made a handful of appearances for Bremen over the next season and a half, a spell that would end with them being relegated.
Opportunites still proved hard to come by, with Woltemade playing just seven times in the 2. Bundesliga.
As a result, he was loaned out for the 2022/23 season.
He dropped down to the 3.Liga with SV Elversberg a club who had just been promoted from the fourth tier.
It might’ve seemed a surprising move but it’s one that proved the making of Woltemade.
He netted 10 goals in 31 games to fire Elversberg to yet another promotion and he also won the 3.Liga Player of the Year award.
Woltemade’s form in the third tier convinced Bremen to give him another go and he featured regularly in the Bundesliga the following season.
He also became a regular for the Germany under-21 squad.
Woltemade then joined Stuttgart in 2024, enjoying a superb season with 17 goals – one of which game in the German Cup final as his club triumphed.
He also earned a Germany call-up and is now a regular for his country.
In August, Newcastle splashed out a club-record £65million to take Woltemade to England.
Quickly becoming a cult hero, he’s bagged nine goals in all competitions for the Toon so far.
It’s been a stunning rise in two years for Woltemade, a rise that can be traced back to finding his form in the 3.Liga.
Deniz Undav
Another Germany international, Deniz Undav is another who enjoyed a pretty fast rise in the game after being in the 3.Liga.
Undav was released by Werder Bremen as a youngster and ended up in the fourth tier with Havelse.
It was with that club he was given his break with 37 goals in 72 games earning him a move to Eintracht Braunschweig’s B team in the same division.
After just a year there, he moved up to the 3.Liga with Meppen and that’s when his star began to rise.
A relatively modest debut season was followed by a prolific one with Undav firing 17 goals in 34 games in the 2019/20 campaign.
That caught the attention of Hearts’ supremo Tony Bloom’s analytics firm and he was snapped up by Union Saint-Gilloise, the Belgian club Bloom is involved in.
After a year in the second tier in Belgium, Undav proved the step up to top tier European football was no challenge for him.
He scored 26 goals in 39 games in the top tier for Union SG, finishing the campaign as Belgian football’s top scorer and the country’s footballer of the year.
All this less than two years after playing in Germany’s third tier.
Brighton, owned by Bloom, paid £6million to sign Undav from Union SG and he went on to play 22 times in the Premier League, scoring five goals.
Since 2023, Undav has been in the Bundesliga with Stuttgart, with his initial loan move being made permanent in a bumper £25million deal.
Continuing to be prolific, Undav is now a full Germany international and was part of Julian Nagelsmann‘s squad at Euro 2024.
Hakan Calhanoglu
Inter Milan star Calhanoglu is a bit of an outlier in this list as unlike the others, he is not a striker.
He is, however, a player who has played at the VERY top who can trace his career surge back to the third tier in Germany.
One of Turkey’s greatest players, 31-year old Calhanoglu was born in Germany.
He broke through at Karlsruher, making 14 appearances in the second tier in 2011/12 as the club were relegated.
That would prove the making of Calhangolu, however, as he fired 17 goals from midfield the following campaign in 3.Liga as the club secured an immediate promotion back up the way.
His electric form saw several clubs declare an interest and he jumped straight from the third tier to the Bundesliga with Hamburg.
After 11 goals in 32 games, he was on the move after just one season there, joining one of Germany’s biggest clubs, Bayer Leverkusen.
Calhanoglu played for AC Milan between 2017 and 2021 before switching directly to fierce rivals Inter in 2021, becoming one of their key men in the process.
He enjoyed one of his finest seasons in 2023/24, scoring 13 times from midfield as Inter won Serie A.
Calhanoglu has also won the Coppa Italia twice, the Italian Super Cup three times and he’s played in two Champions League finals.
Turkey’s captain with 102 caps, he’s played at three European Championship finals.
He’s come a long way since that season in Germany’s third tier, but once again proof that it can be a place for top stars really to find their feet.
Said El Mala
A player who many probably wouldn’t have heard of a year ago, El Mala is now being linked with the likes of Liverpool, Manchester City Manchester United and Chelsea.
The reported fee it would take to get him? Over £50million.
Only 19, El Mala burst onto the scene with a season and a half in 3.Liga.
Aged 17, he made his debut for Viktoria Koln in February 2024 – just two days after signing his first professional contract – and immediately impressed.
El Mala impressed so much that FC Koln decided to sign him after he’d played just 11 professional games.
He was immediately loaned back to Viktoria Koln for the 2024/25 season and scored 13 times in 32 games in the third tier.
El Mala has subsequently made a seamless transition to the Bundesliga, becoming one of the most exciting and talked about players in the league this season.
Another one who is proof that the jump from third tier to top tier has NOT been a barrier to success and why Rangers may be confident in signing from the 3.Liga.
Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page
