Rangers beat Premier League teams to the signing of electric winger Serge Atakayi in 2016.
Rangers appear to have a real star on their hands in Serge Atakayi. The highly-rated winger is emerging as one of the most exciting prospects in the club’s academy and his goalscoring performance in the 5-2 Youth Cup win against Partick Thistle on Monday only enhanced his glowing reputation.
The Congolese-born attacker became the youngest player ever to feature in Finland’s top flight when he turned out for FF Jaro aged just 16 years and 107 days. Two-and-a-half years on, a shot in Rangers’ first-team will be beckoning if he maintains his sparking form for the club’s Under-20s.
And Rangers decision to sign Atakayi after a successful trial period in the summer of 2016 could soon look like a really inspired decision. The Daily Record claimed that the 18-year-old was also a target for a number of Premier League clubs before putting pen to paper on a three-year deal at Ibrox.
And although he is yet to make his first-team debut, despite appearing on the bench in May, whoever takes the reigns at Rangers surely won’t take long to realise the precocious talent they have on their hands.
A winger comfortable on either flank, Rangers’ current caretaker boss Graeme Murty admitted that Atakayi can ‘thrill or frustrate’ in equal measure in a manner typical of young, rough-edged widemen.
But with Rangers a little short when it comes to speed and unpredictability in wide areas, it is no exaggeration to claim that the inclusion of Atakayi could even transform the club’s attack.
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