Rangers in talks over partnership with Kinetic Academy
Rangers are in talks over a deal that would see them partner up with the London-based Kinetic Academy, according to The Athletic.
The news outlet reports that Kinetic has “produced 46 professional players in the last 10 years” with Ibrox star Joe Aribo among them, as well as Fulham’s Josh Maja and Sheffield United’s Rhys Norrington-Davies.
Harry Hudson founded Kinetic in 2011 and he believes that making his players stand out from the rest of the crowd has led to their success.
“I believe the academy system is creating players with what they would call ‘fantastic habits’, but their habits are always the right thing, always predictable,” Hudson told The Athletic.
“They’re robotic and they’re boring. If you watch under-23s football, it’s boring as everyone has time on the ball and everything is smooth. You know what they are going to do before they do it. There is no X factor.
“You throw in a kid like Aribo and they catch the eye. They don’t always do the right thing but often it’s successful as the opponent thinks they know what they should do but they do the opposite and catch them off guard.”
Exciting partnership
If Aribo is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the talent that Kinetic Academy produces then we cannot wait to see what they can do in the future, especially if they partner up with Rangers.
While the Gers have a great academy system of their own which has seen Nathan Patterson, Billy Gilmour and Ross McCrorie emerge in recent years, there is still work to be done and there are definitely improvements to be made.
An official link up between the Gers and Kinetic will see the Premiership champions get a foothold in both Glasgow and London, two real hotbeds of football talent within the UK.
Steven Gerrard is the right manager for this too.
The ex-Liverpool youth coach has experience in dealing with youngsters and the average age of his first-team squad, especially in the attacking areas, suggests he’s willing to give young players chances to shine.
It will be a win-win all around if this partnership is struck and we hope to see is offering us some really talented players down the line.
In other Rangers news, Jim White was left visibly baffled by this fan’s claim about Steven Gerrard.