The Czech Republic’s General Manager, icon Pavel Nedved, has confirmed that they are working to secure Rangers’ Ryan Naderi for the nation.
Infotbal report comments from Nedved today from a press conference ahead of the international break.
He confirmed that the 23-year-old is in their sights and they are finalising the last formalities to allow the Rangers forward to represent Czech Republic.
Paperwork pending
The outlet explains that Naderi has a Czech mother and Bulgarian father. The forward is yet to represent any national team during his career.
A few months ago, he turned down an offer from Bulgaria but is very interested in joining the Czech national team.
“He is on our radar; he is a player we would call up to the national team,” explained Nedved about the Rangers player.
“Unfortunately, we cannot do that at this moment, even though he holds Czech citizenship. There are still a few final administrative steps required before he can be called up. Our legal department is doing everything in its power to get these documents processed as quickly as possible.
“I really appreciate Ryan’s decision to represent the Czech Republic. He has done so much to make it happen; he really wanted this. He put in personal effort and handled the paperwork over in the UK.
“Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to finalize the paperwork here in Brno or Prague just yet. Work is underway, and I would be very happy to see it resolved as quickly as possible. We really want him on the team, and he will certainly be joining us soon.”
Nedved optimism
Nedved is optimistic on the process. In fact, he did not entirely rule out the possibility that the necessary formalities for the Rangers forward could be finalised in the coming days.
“At this moment, I don’t know exactly how much is left to do. I hope it’s really just a small amount,” he added.
“We are in contact with him and his family. You could see how excited he was. It’s probably a bit of a disappointment for him right now that we haven’t managed to get it done here yet.
“If there’s any chance, we can move things forward in the next few days so he can join the squad, we would be absolutely delighted to do so.”
The Rangers forward has already earned positive reviews in the country, though. Back in August, during the opening leg of the Conference League play-off round, he surprised Czech journalists but speaking fluent Czech at the post-match press conference.
Now they want him in the team, potentially as a partial replacement for Patrik Schick. He retired unexpectedly from international football after the World Cup and now they need a replacement. The paperwork is already being done to make the Rangers man available.
