Glasgow Rangers youngster Dapo Mebude is undoubtedly making a name for himself at Ibrox.
Having not started a single game since arriving at Rangers on loan in the summer, and having not featured at all in the first-team since August, Umar Sadiq would have been forgiven for feeling the pressure when picked to lead the line in the Gers’ latest reserve game.
Sadiq was joined by a number of first-team players in the lineup against Motherwell on Monday, so it would have perhaps been an ideal opportunity to make a statement to Steven Gerrard ahead of the League Cup tie with Ayr this week.
But while it was a Rangers forward who grabbed the headlines in the 6-2 win over Well, it was not Sadiq who made the difference as his display saw the Roma-owned ace miss a few chances before being replaced at the break.
Instead, Dapo Mebude continued to show why he is a name to definitely look out for in the coming months as he scored a hat-trick in less than 20 minutes to turn the game back in Rangers’ favour after Motherwell had made the score 2-2 after conceding the first two goals of the game.
With Sadiq so far struggling to prove that he can already provide cover for Alfredo Morelos and Kyle Lafferty, the last thing he probably needed was for one of his teammates to make such a devastating impact in a game that he started.
Mebude is probably not going to be appearing in Gerrard’s plans immediately – there seems to be little point considering moving him up prematurely when Morelos and Lafferty are performing so well – but if the manager does need to utilise the depth within his ranks, then using Mebude rather than Sadiq makes some sense.
Sadiq may be the better player right now, but with the Nigerian only on loan, it may be worthwhile putting more faith in Mebude as Rangers are much more likely to see the 17-year-old realise that potential at some stage in the future.
The success that Rangers have enjoyed with most of their summer signings certainly hints that Sadiq can turn his situation around before his loan concludes. But with Mebude now snapping at his heels it seems, perhaps the task facing Sadiq has just become slightly tougher.
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