Skov Olsen signs for Rangers on loan – but can he rediscover swagger?

New Rangers signing Andreas Skov Olsen was considered a coup when he joined Bundesliga club Wolfsburg last January.

Yet within a year, the 26-year-old Danish winger had been sent to train with the youths while Wolfsburg’s A team played their B team in a bounce game at a training camp in Lisbon.

And so the left-footed right winger arrives in Glasgow on loan, after being unveiled to the Ibrox crowd on Friday prior to their Scottish Cup tie with Annan Athletic, looking to revive a career that seemed set for great things after a stellar spell at Club Brugge.

Forty-nine goals and 30 assists from 124 games. Two league titles. Champions League football. Not bad at all.

By the time he joined Wolfsburg, Skov Olsen had appeared at the 2022 World Cup and at Euro 2020 and 2024.

A short spell in Serie A with Bologna followed his breakthrough in his home country with FC Nordsjaelland and wasn’t a huge success.

But, emboldened by his time at Brugge, the Dane arrived in Germany vowing to score goals and use his speed to create chances. His opportunities to do so were scarce, though.

“Initially, under Ralph Hasenhuttl, he was used in a more defensive role than perhaps suited him,” explains German football commentator Derek Rae.

“With a coaching change, Skov Olsen was given a more attacking role in a 4-2-3-1, and started the season with a fine performance and a goal at Heidenheim. But his form nose-dived and he fell out of the team.

So after struggling in Italy and Germany – but thriving in Belgium and Denmark – might it be that the standard of the Scottish Premiership might be more suited to Skov Olsen’s game?

The editor in chief of Denmark’s Vilfortpark.dk website Toke Moller Theilade thinks so.

“He broke through at a young age in the Danish league,” he says. “He was 19, he became top scorer, the expectations were really big. Back then he was a striker.

“But it seems he has been best at the clubs slightly below the big leagues. Really good in Denmark, great in Belgium, and I think he will do very, very well at Rangers,

“I also think at this point of his career, we have to acknowledge that probably he will struggle if he moves to the absolute biggest stages.”

Skov Olsen has 40 international caps, the last of which was gained against Greece in September.

He didn’t play at Hampden as Scotland claimed a World Cup finals place but will have designs on being involved in March’s play-offs.

“I think it’s a good place for him to go and get his confidence, his swagger a little bit back,” added Moller Theilade.

“As a player, he’s technically really, really strong. He can take on his opponents one-on-one. He can dribble. He is pretty fast for a big guy able to provide dangerous crosses, good at passing, very versatile, and a great finisher.