Does Toumani Diagouraga’s fall from grace suggest he should have chosen Rangers over Leeds United?

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Rangers lost out to Leeds United in January 2016 over the signature of Brentford midfielder Toumani Diagouraga.

Rangers were hugely disappointed to miss out on Toumani Diagouraga during the January 2016 transfer window. As reported by the Daily Record, former manager Mark Warburton was desperate to bring the rangy midfielder to Ibrox after working with him at Championship side Brentford.

However, Rangers were unable to meet The Bees’ valuation so Leeds United – their coffers swelled by the sale of homegrown right-back Sam Byram to West Ham United – stole in and nabbed Diagouraga from under Warburton’s nose.

There is no doubting that the failure to sign Diagouraga, likened to Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira by then Leeds boss Steve Evans (Daily Record), was seen as a major blow north of the border.

The Frenchman was one of the most impressive midfielders in England’s second tier, his ability to stride forward and swat aside opponents certainly reminiscent of his compatriot and three-time Premier League winning captain.

However, in the year-and-a-half since Diagouraga made that move to Elland Road rather than Ibrox, his career has suffered something of a dramatic decline.

Without a club

Evans was shown the door by trigger-happy Leeds chairman Massimo Cellino just a few months later and in came Garry Monk. And, after Diagouraga struggled in Monk’s first game in charge, the 3-0 opening day defeat to Queens Park Rangers, he never played for the club again.

Diagouraga was loaned out to Ipswich Town after four months of inactivity before being released this summer with a year remaining on his contract. And, in a further blow to his reputation, League One promotion-chasers Scunthorpe United have decided against offering the midfielder a contract despite him spending the last few weeks training with the Glanford Park club (The Telegraph).

You wonder how different things had been if Diagouraga had donned the blue of Rangers rather than the white of Leeds.