Aston Villa loanee Aaron Tshibola was impressive as Kilmarnock sealed a 1-0 Scottish Premiership win against Rangers at Ibrox.
Rangers fans might have been bitter about Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat to Kilmarnock but they were still able to laud the visitor’s midfielder Youssouf Mulumbu for a dominant performance in the centre of the park.
The 31-year-old joined Killie on a short-term deal back in November after he was released by Norwich City and the former West Brom enforcer has developed into one of the signings of the season – one Rangers fans wish they their club had pulled off instead.
But there was another of Steve Clarke’s midfielders that Rangers’ director of football Mark Allen should have been keeping a close eye on at Ibrox.
After all, Rangers have been linked with one Aaron Tshibola before, The Express claiming they were keen to lure the £5 million Aston Villa flop to Glasgow back in January 2017.
These days, after dreadful spells at Nottingham Forest and MK Dons, Tshibola finds himself at Rugby Park and Villa’s forgotten man is starting to rebuild his reputation.
He was impressive against Rangers at Ibrox, providing the energy and dynamism that Rangers’ central midfield was strangely lacking in both those departments.
Regardless of how well Tshibola does north of the border, however, the 23-year-old is unlikely to get another chance at Aston Villa so long as Steve Bruce remains in charge so they will have to loan him out again next season or let him leave for a fraction of that £5 million fee.
And it will be interesting to see whether his eye-catching display at Ibrox will give former suitors Rangers food for thought.
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