World Cup stars Celtic and Rangers could look towards as January transfer window beckons [Ali Gholizadeh]

FootballScotland.co.uk – GLASGOW, Both clubs will have kept a close eye on the competition in Qatar this winter.

It’s that time of year again.

The January transfer window is a notoriously difficult timescale in which to do business with clubs not looking to move on their players mid-season. Understandable, but pre-contracts and deals running out can often force their hands and spark a transfer into life. Celtic have already sorted two deals in Yuki Kobayashi and Alistair Johnston while Rangers have new manager Mick Beale in the door who will undoubtedly have his own ideas about new faces at Ibrox.

There’s also the small matter of the World Cup coming to an end which will have brought other names to the fore for the likes of the Hoops’ and Gers’ scouting teams to be keeping track of.

Here, we at Football Scotland have taken a closer look at one of the top options for Ange Postecoglou and Beale from Qatar 2022 and the realistic targets they could be mulling over.

Ali Gholizadeh – Iran

The 26-year-old is a frontman but has often plied his trade as a right-sided winger and that’s just what Rangers could be looking for. They need speedy widemen with trickery and pace and Gholizadeh may fit that bill.

Currently playing club football for Charleroi in Belgium, his goal-scoring stats could be better but he is creative and provides more assists as an unselfish player as we saw with Iran. He played all three group games, scoring (Ruled out for offside) and assisting once.