Igamane has bagged seven goals in his first 11 matches for the Ligue 1 clubHamza Igamane and Ronaldo

Hamza Igamane’s red-hot start in front of goal for Lille has seen the former Rangers striker half-jokingly compared to the legendary Brazilian Ronaldo.

But one of the Morocco star’s new teammates is adamant the lofty comparison to the two-time Ballon D’Or winner has some merit.

After a long, protracted transfer saga that included a fall-out with ex Ibrox manager Russell Martin, Igamane made the move to France from Gers in a £10.4million deal in the summer and has wasted no time in making his mark.

He has netted seven times in his first 11 matches in all competitions, including three strikes in three games in the Europa League.

Following his goal in a 2-0 away win against Nantes last month, Ligue 1’s English account on X shared an altered image of Igamane sporting Ronaldo’s iconic look from the 1998 FIFA World Cup with a pair of classic Nike Mercurial boots from that golden era draped around his neck.

And Igamane’s pal Calvin Verdonk insists he sees similarities in how the frontman plays the game like former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Real Madrid superstar Ronaldo, who fired Brazil to glory in the 2002 World Cup with eight goals at the finals.

Indonesian international defender Verdonk said: “He’s a fantastic player who does incredible things.

“He’s already scored a lot of goals for us. Of course, he can still do better. That’s true of the whole team, actually.

“But I think for him, the most important thing is scoring goals. He’s the kind of player you see on YouTube, and when I compare him, he reminds me of Ronaldo (R9).

“He has a similar style . Hamza is an incredible player.”

Lille boss Bruno Genesio also recently praised the forward for his instant impact since his move from Rangers. He added: “Hamza is working well. He arrived late, it’s a bit of an adjustment.

Hamza Igamane (R) celebrates with Lille’s Thomas Meunier (C) (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

“He’s a guy who listens, who works, who makes a lot of effort. He’s made a very good start.

“It’s also a tribute to all the players who are coming on because we’re one of the teams that performs the best with the players on the bench. But there’s no problem, he’s listening. We talk to him a lot.

“There’s no problem, all the players know they’ll have the opportunity to express themselves with all the competitions we have to play in and it’s going very well.”