When Inter Milan were linked with a move for Manuel Benson last summer, you’d imagine that many San Siro spectactors would have greeted the rumours with a rather nonplussed expression.
The Belgium U21 international produced six goals and nine assists during an impressive 2018/19 campaign at Mouscron but a household name in Milan he most certainly was not.
Yet from such innocuous beginnings have emerged some of the most talented forwards in the game today. And, if a certain Kevin de Bruyne can reach the very top after honing his considerable talents in the Jupiler League, why could Benson not do the same?
“Let’s take De Bruyne: he was not admired by some people at Chelsea and now look at him at City,” Benson’s agent, Patrick de Koster, told FCInterNews last year when a move to the Italian giants was still on the cards.
“He is a very, very technical, attacking player. It is not easy to find players with similar characteristics.
“Gareth Bale; quick, fast, with a knack of finding the net. Obviously I’m not comparing the two now, I only specify that Manuel has a way of playing that resembles that of the Real Madrid player.”
That rumoured move to Milan might not have come to fruition however with Benson instead joining Royal Antwerp for a club-record £2.7 million deal.
But, some 12 months on, the 23-year-old is once again dominating the gossip columns back home. Voetbal Nieuws claimed that Steven Gerrard’s Rangers have expressed an interest in a player whose searing pace makes him a perfect fit for the Glasgow giants.
Rangers, after all, perfected the art of counter-attacking during this season’s Europa League run, with Gerrard’s tactics suiting the likes of Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos down to the ground.
Benson might never reach the dizzying heights of a Bale or a De Bruyne. But a player with such match-winning characteristics will always be welcome at Ibrox.
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