Atakayi, who made his one and only Rangers appearance under Steven Gerrard 13 months ago, secured a permanent move away from Ibrox on Monday.
Serge Atakayi claims he wanted to leave Rangers in the summer transfer window.
Atakayi, who made his one and only Rangers appearance under Steven Gerrard 13 months ago, secured a permanent move away from Ibrox on Monday.
The Finnish winger has signed a two-year deal with SJK Seinäjoki, the club to whom Rangers lent him at the end of last season.
Speaking to his new club’s official website earlier, Atakayi explained: “I didn’t get playing time after returning to Rangers and I was in contact with the club leadership about the possibility of returning to Seinäjoki with a loan agreement.
“I wanted to come back. But it was the very day when the transfer window closed and the transfer was no longer possible.
“I was really annoyed when I saw that SJK’s season wasn’t going so well and I could have been of help.”
Atakayi explained that, with other things going on in his life, such as the upcoming birth of his child, it was important to find a club for whom he can play regular first-team football.
And according to the 20-year-old, who has struggled for minutes in Rangers’ reserves this season, he had several offers to choose from.
“This was not an easy decision for me to come back to Finland,” he said. “I had a lot of foreign options for where I could go, but none of them looked the same as SJK. I don’t think I’d enjoy anywhere else as well as here.”
A return to SJK ensured that the work of Atakayi’s new manager, Jani Honkavaara, paid off.
“With Serge, we talked for the first time as early as two months ago,” Honkavaara explained. “So I’m really happy that this agreement finally emerged.”
Rangers, who are expected to receive around £100,000 for Atakayi according to The Daily Record, signed the DR Congo-born player from FF Jaro in 2016 and extended his contract until June 2020 around this time last year.
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