Rangers could face the son of Chelsea and Barcelona icon Eidur Gudjohnsen on Thursday night.
Icelandic youngster Daniel joined Swedish champions Malmo two years ago following spells in the Real Madrid and Barcelona, where his strike star dad spent three years, academies. Gudjohnsen Snr. has three sons, all of whom are footballers, though his youngest, Daniel, is thought to be the most gifted. He initially followed in his father’s footsteps by joining Barcelona before switching to Madrid in 2018.
There were high hopes for him in the Spanish capital, with Real Madrid reserves manager Raul reportedly tracking his progress closely, though the 16-year-old striker opted for another switch in 2022 and featured in Malmo’s U19 squad before progressing through the youth ranks and he has been included in Henrik Rydstrom’s Euro squad.
“It feels good to come to the biggest club in Sweden,” Daniel said at the time of signing. “I know that Malmo have been successful in Europe in recent years and that the supporters are fantastic. There was no hesitation to move from Spain when I heard about the interest.”
Back in 2017, Daniel was the star of one of Spanish football’s biggest youth competitions, the Cordial Cup. His Barcelona side won it and he was voted player of the tournament.
If Daniel plays against the Light Blues then he will follow in his dad’s footsteps after Eidur starred against Rangers in the Champions League for Barcelona, who he joined from Chelsea after six years at Stamford Bridge, in 2007.
Legendary late Rangers boss Walter Smith revealed how he turned down the chance to sign the Icelandic legend three years later due to his huge £40,000-a-week wages. He was offered to the Ibrox side on a year-long loan from Monaco. Smith said at the time: “We have been offered the player – but we couldn’t look at his wages.”