Colak following in footsteps of Croatian idols at Ibrox... and one on coaching staff
New Rangers striker reveals how he was compared to Roy Makaay during his early development
ANTONIO COLAK has spent his career aiming to follow in the footsteps of his heroes who have pulled on the red, white and blue of Croatia.
Now it is his Rangers idols that he is attempting to emulate after revealing the added inspiration behind his move to Ibrox.
Colak was born in Germany but has three caps for his adopted nation. If all goes to plan, he could add to that tally at the World Cup in November. For that dream to become a reality, the striker must hit the goal trail at Ibrox and play his part for Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side in the coming months.
Colak will become the third Croat to lead the line for Rangers and he has a high standard to reach after seeing Dado Prso and Nikica Jelavic earn their place in the hearts of supporters.
Countrymen Borna Barisic and Niko Katic will help the 28-year-old settle into his new surroundings as he bids to make an immediate impression following his £1.8m move from PAOK.
And Colak is well aware of the illustrious path that he is heading down at Ibrox after being given the chance to fire Rangers to domestic glory and European success.
“I mean it’s not only because of the game I played last year there,” Colak, who scored twice as Malmo knocked Steven Gerrard’s side out of the Champions League last season, said.
“It was an amazing atmosphere, I know that from my past as a child.
“I’m a football addict and
I’ve always been following all the leagues. I’ve been following Rangers since the days of Dado Prso, Nikica Jelavic and Nacho Novo.
“I’ve watched all these players be successful, scoring goals to bring the people and the fans over to their side. Somehow this feeling gives me goosebumps.
“I want to achieve similar things and it’s one of the main reasons why I wanted to join Rangers.
“It’s not only Dado Prso and Nikica Jelavic. There’s Borna and Nikola right now, they’re both doing a really great job and of course I wanted to keep that tradition going.
“I’ll give everything to the club and achieve the targets the club has to win titles.
“For me personally, it’s to score a lot of goals, to assist and to help the team, to fight. This is all I want to give now as a Rangers player.”
Colak started his Rangers career in Portugal this week as manager Van Bronckhorst put him through his paces just hours after completing the paperwork on a three-year deal.
The former Nurnberg and Rijeka forward will work closely with coach Roy Makaay in the coming months as the Dutch master passes on his words of wisdom from a terrific
career at the top of the game.
And Colak has revealed a unique motivation behind his desire to impress the Bayern Munich hero as he prepares for his debut in the friendly fixture with Sunderland.
“I can learn a lot,” Colak said. “It’s a very big honour to work with these guys.
“The first time I spoke with Gio, it was an incredible conversation. He told me directly the way that he wanted to play. I saw myself directly in there.
“Of course, Roy... I was a young fan of him I would say. There’s a cool story – not too many people know that his second name is Antonius.
“My father always called me Anton because of that as he was such a fan of Roy. He wanted to see me as a No.9.
“I’m looking forward to working with them, to enjoy every training session and to learn day by day and to become a better player.
“I’m a No.9, I’m a striker and I want to score as many goals as I can.
“I want to bring my work, pressing and movement to stretch teams to help.
“With my personality and positivity, I want to bring everyone on my side and the team’s side and to have a successful year or years.”
Rangers will hope to reap the rewards of Colak’s efforts this term as Van Bronckhorst sets his sights on the Premiership title and a place in the group stages of the Champions League.
And the first man in the door at Ibrox has international aspirations on his mind as well as he attempts to earn a timely recall to Zlatko Dalic’s squad ahead of Qatar 2022.
“Yes I think so,” Colak told RangersTV when asked about his move to Ibrox boosting his Croatia ambitions.
“This is also one of my targets that I have set for myself.
“First of all I want to settle in and acclimatise as quickly as possible with the team.
“I’ve seen from afar that it’s an amazing group – they wouldn’t have achieved all of these things if they didn’t have an amazing team spirit.
“I want to bring myself, my positivity and personality. Then after some good games with Rangers, some goals and some hard work, I want to come again to the national team because at the end of the year I had a big target of course – the World Cup. I think I’m still in there [in contention].”