Rangers attacking midfielder Malik Tillman scored a brace in the 3-0 friendly win over Bayer Leverkusen at the weekend.
The American international has been rather inconsistent since arriving on loan from Bayern Munich in the summer but, after the victory on Saturday afternoon, manager Michael Beale was already hailing the player as a “fantastic talent”, stating he would be keen on signing the 20-year-old on a permanent basis:
“You can see what he could grow into to. He’s the exact type of player that we want at this football club. I don’t know the exact fee, I don’t know where we’re going to go and get it from, but if we can do it, I would definitely sign Malik Tillman, yes.”
A number of fans on Twitter have echoed Beale’s remarks, although others want people to temper their expectations regarding Tillman:
Gio didn't really have a clue where to play him and get the best out of him he could be a big player for the rest of the season
— fraser Bear M 55 (@mckay_fraser) December 10, 2022
Let's not get carried away again with tillman,let him do it for a few months
— Andy Cornplaster (@AndyCornplaster) December 11, 2022
Mallik T is a baller. Beale will play 4-3-3 with narow 3's and overlapping wingbacks. 6 attacking against the weaker teams at Ibrox.
— Moses McNeil (@MosesMcNeil9) December 11, 2022
He already was an absolute must buy.
— David Strange (@StrangerDavy) December 10, 2022
First time he’s played really well without Tom Lawrence in the team
— David Milne (@Underwhelmer1) December 10, 2022
He looks so much more comfortable in this system than in Gio’s, and he was pretty good at points as well.
Just hope he keeps it up cause he’s got all the makings of being an incredible player
— Greig Robertson 🏴🏴 (@GreigWSS) December 10, 2022
45 minutes in a friendly – reserve judgement for the games that matter
— samo (@lee_samo) December 10, 2022
There is no doubt that Tillman has the potential to be a great player but he hasn’t exactly hit the ground running since arriving at Ibrox back in July. Four goals and three assists in 23 appearances is a rather modest return so far and it will be hoped that Beale can start to get more out of the midfielder in the coming months.