MATEUSZ Zukowski took to Twitter earlier this week to post a picture of himself in training at Auchenhowie and express his delight at being back in Glasgow for pre-season with Rangers.
But it is fair to say the Polish right back will be far happier when he gets an extended run in the Ibrox club’s first team.
It was always going to be difficult for the promising 20-year-old defender, a £400,000 capture from Lechia Gdansk back in January, to displace captain James Tavernier last term.
The Glasgow giants were bidding to retain the cinch Premiership title, progress further in the Europa League and lift the Scottish Cup when he arrived.
Zukowski found – just like Nathan Patterson, the Scotland internationalist who he was brought in to replace, had before him – game time difficult to come by in the 2021/22 campaign.
The Polish Under-21 internationalist made just one competitive appearance – in a 3-0 win over part-time Annan Athletic in a cup game at Galabank in February.
He will, then, be keen to feature far more frequently for Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side in the months ahead.
His countryman Dariusz Adamzcuk knows only too well how tough that will be from personal experience; the only other Pole to don a light blue jersey moved on in his third season in Govan after being frozen out of the first team.
But Adamczuk, who helped Dick Advocaat’s men to lift the Scottish title and reach the Champions League group stages during his time at Rangers, thinks that his young compatriot can justify his signing in future with the help of his old team mate Van Bronckhorst.
Now sporting director at Ektraklasa outfit Pogon Szczecin in his homeland, he feels the former Feyenoord, Arsenal, Barcelona and Netherlands defender cum midfielder is the perfect man to improve the weaknesses in Zukowski’s game.
“I knew Mateusz before he signed for Rangers,” he said. “He used to play as a winger for Lechia Gdansk and the Polish age-group teams. When he moved up to the first team at Gdansk the coach converted him into a right back, a full-back.
“He is a player who is able to get forward, to overlap. He is strong going forward. But I think that he needs to improve in one-on-one situations in defence in order to establish himself there.
“I can remember in one game that we played against Lechia Gdansk at the end of last year just before he joined Rangers. We beat them 5-1 and Kamil Grosicki, the Polish player, gave him a difficult 90 minutes. In fact, he destroyed him.
“It was a little bit of a surprise to me that he moved to Rangers because they are a top team who do well in Europe. Having said that, I do like Mateusz. In fact, he reminds me a little bit of myself when I was a player, only he is a little bit taller. I would say he is a player with great potential.”
Adamczuk added: “Moving to Glasgow Rangers is a good decision by every player. But he needs time to adapt. Not to the Premiership, because the Scottish top flight is not the greatest league in Europe, but to the demands of Rangers.
“If he wants to play international football for the Polish side he needs to improve for sure. He has played for the under-21 team, but he has not been a starter for that side. Maybe being at Rangers will help him to jump to the first XI.
“It is a long time, nearly 30 years, since I first moved to Scotland and joined Dundee. But I remember how the style of play in your country suited me. It was very physical and was perfect for my game. I liked to work hard and fight for every ball.
“Having said that, my first season in Scotland was very hard. But after that it was very, very good. In Poland we have two pre-seasons, in summer and in winter. In Scotland you just had one in the summer. I found that hard. After training I would just go home and sleep.
“But I think Scottish football has changed quite a bit. I sometimes watch Rangers in Europe and I think they have very good quality and play with a nice style. Mateusz has to improve aspects of his game in order to fit in.
“Zukowski is quite big for a full-back, for a winger. He is 6ft 1in tall. He will not be troubled by the physical side of the Scottish game. But for me he is still young and needs to improve his technique, particularly in defence.
“When he played against experienced wingers, against quick and skilful players, in Poland he had some problems. But he is dangerous going forward, a good box-to-box player. There are great strengths to his game that he can add to.”
Adamczuk played alongside Van Bronckhorst in the 2-1 aggregate win over Parma that helped Rangers qualify for the Champions League group stages in the 1999/2000 season – and then in an epic double header against Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Cup that ended with the Ibrox club losing on penalties.
He was struck by the Dutchman’s ability and intelligence during that time and has not been surprised the former Champions League winner and World Cup finalist has done so well since hanging up his boots and moving into coaching.
The 52-year-old, who won 11 caps for Poland during his playing career and won a silver medal with his national team at the Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992, is optimistic that Zukowski will flourish under his fellow full-back.
“It will help Mateusz to work with a coach who played as a full-back at a very high level with both his club and his country,” he said. “Giovanni was a very technical player. He played in Holland, Scotland, England and Spain as a full-back as well as a left winger. For sure, he will be good for Mateusz.
“I know that I enjoyed playing with Giovanni when I was at Rangers. He was a very smart player and a good guy in the dressing room as well. He has a lot of experience as a coach now having managed at Feyenoord and now at Rangers. There could be nobody better for Mateusz.”
