Rabbi Matondo ‘Incredible’ as Rangers ace backed to succeed away from Ibrox
Rabbi Matondo has been backed to become an instant success in Bundesliga 2 after his loan move to Hannover from Rangers.
The 24-year-old completed his long-awaited exit from Ibrox on Thursday (30 January), joining the Bundesliga 2 outfit on loan until the end of the season.
Hannover retain the option to make the move permanent with a £1million purchase clause [BILD], and ex-Belgium boss Domenico Tedesco – who worked with Matondo at Schalke – has backed the “incredible” forward for success on his return to Germany in comments to BILD (4 February).
He said: “My impression is that he has developed well in recent years. The time in Glasgow in particular has certainly left its mark on him.
“Unfortunately, we only worked together for two months [at Schalke]. But during that time I got to know Rabbi as a polite and likeable player.
“Rabbi was still very young when he came to Schalke from the Manchester City youth team. New team, new environment. That’s not an easy step for an 18-year-old.
“Even back then, his greatest strengths were his incredible speed and his offensive one-on-one skills. The 96 fans were able to see this for themselves when he scored to make it 2-1 in Hamburg. His start with the great goal in Hamburg was great. I hope it continues like this.”
Rangers loan Rabbi Matondo to Hannover
Matondo has hit the ground running in Germany, scoring an incredible debut goal for Hannover in a 2-2 draw against Hamburg on Sunday (2 February).
Although he was well out of the first-team picture at Ibrox, his success in the German second tier will be closely monitored for the rest of the campaign.
His time at Rangers was plagued with injuries as he never quite reached the heights promised before his £3m arrival from Schalke.
The Welshman did show glimmers of quality, particularly his 93rd-minute equaliser in the 3-3 draw against Celtic last term, but overall he showed little else in Scotland to justify keeping the forward around.
Philippe Clement and Nils Koppen once again struggled to offload the deadwood at Ibrox in the winter transfer window, and with the clock ticking, a loan move with an option to buy was the best offer on the table.
Should Matondo fire Hannover into the Bundesliga, the £1m option will undoubtedly look foolish, but considering the Gers’ poor track record in player sales, any amount recouped is better than none at all.
In other Rangers news, the Light Blues are “on alert” after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s comments.
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