Amidst reports of Rangers’ interest in the striker, Kevin Nisbet admitted that he appreciated and was flattered by the rumours (The Evening Times). The young forward must be pinching himself knowing that he is being linked with a club that boasts forwards like Jermain Defoe and Alfredo Morelos.
Of course, despite Nisbet saying that his main interest right now is helping current team Dunfermline succeed, it at least gives him validation of his current season’s. And when the time is right, perhaps Nisbet will make the move to Rangers. But how has the 22-year-old performed so far this season in order to warrant a move? And could the Scottish striker adequately replace Morelos?
TIF Tactics – Could Kevin Nisbet replace Alfredo Morelos?
It is important to disclose that the data pulled from Wyscout when completing this player report does show the statistics from every match of Nisbet’s 2019/2020 season. There is still a large enough sample size to understand his average contributions to his team per 90 minutes of football though.
From his sample, Nisbet averages 3.52 shots per 90 minutes this season, with a 28.9% accuracy. His xG (expected goals) are 0.47 per 90 minutes and he has scored 0.19 times per 90 minutes on average. Morelos, on the other hand, averages 5.03 shots per 90 minutes with a 49.1% accuracy. His xG per 90 minutes is 0.82, yet his goal-scoring exceeds that number, scoring 1.02 goals per 90 minutes on average.
The shooting statistics alone show how Nisbet would be a serious step down from what Rangers already have. Not only is he much less accurate and less frequent with his shooting, but he is also much less clinical than his Colombian counterpart. While Nisbet misses chances that he should otherwise score, Morelos is scoring when it is unexpected.
This article isn’t designed to knock Nisbet down, however. He is still clearly a very talented player. However, these statistics show that it won’t be easy for Rangers to find someone who can adequately step into their team and replace their star striker. If the £90k-rated Nisbet does make the move to Ibrox though, he would surely improve under the guidance of Steven Gerrard.
(all data and stats from Wyscout.com, accurate at the time of writing)