Rangers striker Kelsy's colourful career - aged just 22

From hiding in a truck to avoid a travel ban to living through the war in Ukraine, Kevin Kelsy's nascent career has already been a colourful one.

Now the 22-year-old striker is beginning a new chapter with Rangers after a deadline day move from Portland Timbers.

So, what will the imposing Venezuela forward bring to Ibrox?

Kelsy began his career in his homeland with Mineros de Guayana, making his debut in 2021 at the age of just 16.

That very early start in top-tier football gives an indication of Kelsy's natural talent, and his journey to Mineros speaks to his determination and spirit.

To get there, he had to travel 500 miles from his hometown of Valencia. But that distance wasn't the biggest problem - the Covid-19 pandemic meant there was a nationwide travel ban.

To avoid detection at checkpoints, he hid in a mining truck.

"It wasn't an appropriate time to be using airports or anything to do with [travel] - so Mineros' president and my agent had an idea," Kelsy said earlier this year, speaking to a Portland Timbers blog.

"Thinking about it, the idea was crazy to be honest. I was so young, I only let myself be guided by my dreams, not thinking about the craziness of what I was doing.

"It was all for my dream, which was to be a professional athlete, to play in Europe."

The year after Kelsy's debut, he began to make his mark, with five goals in 24 appearances.

That led to Shakhtar Donetsk after a very brief spell in Uruguay with Boston River.

Over his two title-winning seasons in Ukraine, he netted nine goals in 37 appearances against the backdrop of war with Russia.

"It was my first proper experience outside of my country and a very drastic change - both culturally and sporting," he added.

"There were times when I lived first hand the attacks on the country, but also saw how the country defended itself," Kelsy said.

"I could see up in the sky war drones getting knocked down.

"They are moments that will forge you, mature you. I think ultimately dreams are bigger than anything else, so I tried not to mind all those things the best I could."

Those dreams then drove him on to the United States in search of more regular minutes, with his first taste of Major League Soccer a loan spell at FC Cincinnati in 2024.

His six goals in 23 appearances in Ohio was enough to win a move to the Portland Timbers, where he scored 19 times in 65 outings.

At 6ft 4in he offers the height in attack Rangers have lost as a result of Youssef Chermiti's anterior cruciate ligament injury.

"He's just a solid block," was how Timbers general manager Ned Grabavoy once described Kelsy.

"His work ethic at times - it's almost like he's overworking.

"A big thing with him is to try and show him how to work efficiently, how to work within our group and how to work within our team.

"As he's opened up and got more comfortable during his time here, he's starting to take direction and utilise it and maximise it to be the best version of himself on the field."

Lawrence Shankland was Rangers' marquee summer signing even before manager Derek McInnes chose to make the same journey from Hearts.

After a slow start, the 31-year-old Scotland striker, so prolific at Tynecastle, has scored three goals in back-to-back wins for the Ibrox side.

Ryan Naderi was McInnes' preferred forward for the three European qualifying games that followed Chermiti's injury, but lost his starting place after a miserable defeat away to Jablonec.

Bojan Miovski, who was in and out of the team in his debut campaign last term and scored 14 goals in 47 games, has made three cameos off the bench so far this season.

While he would appear to be McInnes' least favoured option in attack at this early stage, the North Macedonia international was preferred to Naderi as a late replacement in Wednesday's victory at Falkirk.

McInnes has chopped and changed as he seeks a winning formula, with four of Shankland's nine outings coming as a substitute.

However, his captain will be certain to keep his place if the goals keep flowing and a return to form has come without a strike partner, while Naderi's two goals also came when starting as a lone centre-forward.