Rangers’ Ryan Naderi Faces International Decision
Ryan Naderi is scoring goals in Glasgow and turning heads across Europe – and now, three national teams are circling.
According to Bild, the 23-year-old Rangers striker is close to a call-up from the Czech Republic, with sporting director Pavel Nedved already making contact as the Czechs move to secure his international future.
Naderi’s story is anything but straightforward. Born in Dresden to a Czech mother and a Bulgarian father, he sits at the crossroads of three national associations. Bulgaria have already tried to recruit him in the past, but he turned those advances down. The report suggests he is far more receptive to representing the Czech Republic.
Germany, though, still lurk in the background.
With Jürgen Klopp newly in charge of the DFB setup and planning a wider-than-usual squad for the upcoming international window, Naderi’s profile fits the brief: young, tall, productive, and still uncapped. If Klopp sees a potential long-term option for Germany’s No 9 role, he would have to act quickly before the Czechs close the door.
Passport race against the clock
If Naderi opts for the Czech Republic, there is a bureaucratic hurdle first. He would need to apply for a Czech passport, and it remains unclear whether that process could be completed in time for the looming Nations League fixtures against Croatia, England (twice) and Spain. The Czechs want him; the calendar might not cooperate.
While his international future hangs in the balance, his club career has gathered speed.
From Dresden to Glasgow via Rostock
Naderi came through the youth ranks at Dynamo Dresden before leaving home at 17 for Borussia Mönchengladbach, a move that sharpened his game in one of Germany’s elite academies.
His real breakthrough, though, arrived in 2024 with Hansa Rostock. There, he made the step into professional football, delivering 13 goals and nine assists in 45 appearances in the 3. Liga. At 1.94 metres, he plays as a classic centre-forward: a presence in the box, a target for crosses, a focal point for attacks.
Rangers took notice. And they paid to prove it.
The Scottish club signed him last winter for a 3. Liga record fee of €5.5 million, a statement of faith in a striker who had never played top-flight football. Since landing in Glasgow, he has responded with six goals and six assists in 21 games, adapting quickly to the demands and intensity of life at Ibrox.
Last weekend, he stepped onto one of the fiercest stages in European football and looked at home. In the Old Firm derby, Naderi set up a goal in Rangers’ 3-0 win over Celtic and played a key part in the build-up to another, imposing himself in a fixture that often exposes the unprepared.
Performances like that do not go unnoticed in national-team offices.
Klopp watching, Czech Republic pushing
Germany’s upcoming window pits them against the Netherlands, Serbia and Greece (twice). Klopp plans to name an unusually large squad to test a broad range of players, with surprises expected and reputations up for grabs.
Naderi sits right in that sweet spot: German-born, developing rapidly, and filling a profile the national team has often debated – the out-and-out centre-forward.
The Czech Republic, led by Nedved’s proactive approach, are trying to get ahead of that conversation. Bulgaria have already tried and failed. Now the question is whether Germany wait too long, or whether the Czechs move fast enough with the paperwork to pull a 1.94-metre striker in form into their camp.
A towering No 9, a record transfer to Rangers, and three countries in the chase. The next call he answers could shape the rest of his career.
