Vaclav Hladky's influence at St Mirren cannot be understated.

The Czech goalkeeper is widely regarded as one of the best Buddies stoppers in recent history and supporters will have been left disappointed at the news he would not be renewing his contract and will leave the club this summer.

Hladky, 29, has previously been linked with moves away from the Simple Digital Arena during his spell in Paisley. Champions League side Qarabag were keen on a £200,000 deal for the custodian just last season and other clubs have shown an interest, too, including sides from the English Championship and League 1.

One of those clubs who had monitored the player was Rangers. The Light Blues are long-term admirers of Hladky and previously approached Saints with a view to a transfer which never materialised.

Now available on a free, Herald and Times Sport understands Gers may move for the player again and stand a far better chance of signing him now than they previously did. Especially given Steven Gerrard needs another goalie to challenge Allan McGregor following Wes Foderingham's departure at the conclusion of his deal.

Hladky would no doubt fit right into the Rangers squad having played a number of seasons in the country, in the league and against the current crop of Ibrox stars. But does he have enough about him to challenge McGregor and wrestle the number one spot away from the veteran?

Here we take a look at the statistics comparing Hladky with McGregor from last season and their shot-stopping ability. We have also lined Hladky up against the recently released Foderingham from the 2016/17 season - his best campaign in the Premiership as a Rangers player.

Here's how they stack up:

Last season, Rangers finished second place in the table, losing just four games and drawing the same amount. St Mirren, on the other hand, ended things in ninth having lost 15 and drawn eight. Therefore Hladky was, by a serious margin, the busier of the two. McGregor conceded just 18 goals from 27 matches boasting 14 clean sheets, while Hladky allowed in 41 goals in his 30 appearances during the campaign, keeping 10 clean sheets.

McGregor faced 69 shots in total while Hladky, from his 30 games faced 144 shots. The former made 51 saves from those 69 strikes while Hladky saved 103 of the efforts.

Foderingham, in 2016/17, played 37 times in the Scottish Premiership. He conceded 43 goals, faced 157 strikes and made 114 saves.

Of course, the style of football on show from both Rangers and St Mirren was completely different. Gers boss Steven Gerrard has attempted to implement a slick brand from his team, playing from the back and building from McGregor to his defenders and then further forward in a bid to create opportunities.

At the other end of the table, St Mirren are often forced to scrap for their chances and - with the players they have at their disposal - must play somewhat of a more robust style of football, going long when appropriate and using the likes of Jon Obika up front to try and hold the ball up and wait for support. This is perhaps where the differences between the three goalkeepers is most visible.

Allan McGregor successfully went long 167 times last season for Rangers and boasted a passing accuracy of 65 percent. Hladky, meanwhile, was successful with 410 long balls forward throughout the campaign which had an accuracy score of 67.3 percent. Foderingham, under Mark Warburton, Graeme Murty and then Pedro Caixinha in 2016/17 went long 323 times with an accuracy of 63.8 percent.

Short passing, as expected, suited McGregor and Gers with the Scotland international making 375 passes completing almost all of them with a whopping 99.2 percent accuracy. Hladky's 299 passes provided a score of 96 percent accurate while Foderingham was the most active with 547 short passes, completing 98.5 percent of them.

In terms of discipline, McGregor has a reputation as a player who can lose his temper at times and he was yellow carded three times last season. Hladky, though, may have more of a calm head after being booked just once for St Mirren throughout the course of last term.

Securing Hladky on a free transfer would, ultimately, be a shrewd bit of business for Rangers. They are in need of another goalkeeper with Robby McCrorie likely to head back out on loan and Foderingham gone.