Juninho Bacuna made his name playing in green and white - now he’s been tipped to star in blue for Rangers.
The Huddersfield ace has completed a permanent switch to Ibrox for an undisclosed fee.
The 24-year-old will be hoping he can kick-start a career that has threatened to stall in West Yorkshire.
Bacuna’s made his Terriers move in 2018 with hopes of becoming a Premier League star.
But it proved to be a mistep, with the former Gronigen ace failing to show the full extent of the talents which saw him burst onto the scene in Holland as a powerful 17-year-old brimming with potential.
And former Groningen hero Jan Mennega reckons Bacuna made the wrong move in joining the Englidh top-flight strugglers back in the first place.
Huddersfield were relegated at the end of his first season and have spent the last two years battling just to stay in the Championship.
But Mennenga believes Steven Gerrard can help the Dutch-born Curacao international rediscover the form which saw him make such a major impact when he first broke into the Green-White Army’s first-team ranks back in 2015.
He told Record Sport : “In Gronigen, he played in green and white - I think he can do well in blue in Glasgow.
“Juninho was a big talent when he left Gronigen for Huddersfield. He was a young guy with a lot of potential.
“I remember before he moved to England that his name was mentioned in relation to a move to some of the big teams in Holland.
“Maybe they had some interest in him but there was never a deal.
“Then he went to Huddersfield - but if it was me, I would not have made that move.
“Huddersfield were a team that was fighting to stay in the Premier League. They were not a very good team at that time so when you’re a young player, going into that kind of situation is not good for your progression.
“You can’t develop as a young player when you’re having to fight to stay alive.
“It’s better to develop in a better team that does not have so much pressure on it.
“So Rangers would be a better move for Juninho now. I know if you asked me when I was playing, I’d have liked to have gone to Glasgow Rangers, not Huddersfield, for sure.”
Light Blues boss Gerrard has been keen to bulk up his options in the centre of midfield as he looks to spare key men Steven Davis, Glen Kamara and Joe Aribo a repeat of the heavy workload they were forced to graft through last year.
Rangers sporting director Ross Wilson identified Bacuna as the perfect candidate to help lessen the burden on last term’s title-winning heroes.
And Mennega, a former Groningen striker who now works in the Dutch media following his former club, insists that while Bacuna was brought up in Holland’s technically-savvy Eredivisie, the former Dutch youth cap will have no problem coping with the rough and tumble of Scottish football.
“He is a dynamic player but not a big creator on the pitch,” explained Mennega.
“He can play in all sorts of positions. In Gronigen he would be used in many different roles, a lot like his brother Leandro, who plays for Cardiff now.
“Juninho sometimes played as the first striker but also on the wings and even the midfield.
“Im still not sure what his best position is though, probably in the midfield where he can use his strength.
“When he first broke into the Gronigen’s first-team he was still young but he was more developed than a lot of the guys the same age.
“So he would still have the physique he would need to handle Scottish football.
“He can cope with the pressure of Glasgow too.
“He was not a shy person but he wasn’t a big speaker either. He’ll doing his talking on the pitch.”
