Credit: Imago

James Barker

Tue 14 April 2026 19:17, UK

Rangers saw Johnly Yfeko join Exeter City on a permanent deal last summer, but the defender hasn’t enjoyed a fruitful season with the Grecians.

Joining Rangers in January 2022, Yfeko had spent time with the likes of Tottenham and Leicester City before making the move to Glasgow.

The then-teenage defender went straight into Rangers’ B team, and quickly began to turn heads, exemplified by the fact he’d earned a fresh contract extension by April 2022.

Yfeko would continue in Rangers’ B team up until the summer of 2024, where he joined English League One side Exeter City on a season-long loan deal.

However, before the 2025 summer transfer window have even officially opened, his Ibrox fate was already sealed.

How has Johnly Yfeko fared with Exeter City?

Yfeko signed for Exeter City permanently at the beginning of May 2025, after the Grecians triggered a purchase option as per the terms of his loan agreement with Rangers.

He’d played only 13 times in all competitions for them during his 2024-25 loan spell, however, after he missed a significant chunk of the season due to hamstring injuries.

Yfeko only ended up making one competitive appearance for Rangers’ first-team, and that came in a Scottish League Cup tie with Morton in August 2023, where he played the full 90 minutes in a 2-1 win.

So, whilst he has received more first-team opportunities with Exeter, the 22-year-old has not been a hit with the EFL outfit.

He’s made 18 total appearances in all competitions in 2025-26 so far, with 14 of those coming in League One but only eight of them have been starts, culminating in just over 600 minutes of league action.

As per Sofascore, Yfeko has averaged just 45 minutes per appearance this season, taking an average of 35.8 touches per game whilst having zero goal contributions.

He’s also averaged 0.3 interceptions per game, 0.6 tackles per game, made one error leading to a goal, has a 25 per cent dribble success rate and has won just 45 per cent of his aerial duels, and 48 per cent of his ground duels respectively.

Yfeko has admitted to “bad habits” off the pitch

As aforementioned, Yfeko has struggled with injuries over recent years, both during his time with Rangers and in his current spell at Exeter City.

Sometimes this can simply be put down to bad luck, but to the left-sided defender’s credit, he’s confessed that it’s his belief that his injury problems can largely be traced to his previous “bad habits” off the pitch.

Speaking in an interview with BBC Radio Devon via BBC Sport in January of this year, Yfeko spoke honestly and plainly about this, and is evidently trying to take steps to improve in this department.

“I’ve changed a lot of things about my life off the pitch, and sometimes it feels like it’s not working, but obviously I feel like I’ve got to be honest with myself,” Yfeko said at the time.

“Before I came here I had a lot of bad habits that I used to have and now I’m starting to do the good stuff, the bad habits are kind of catching up.

“It’s just about me staying focused, obviously sometimes I might break down, but as long as I’m doing the right things I’m sure that my body will start to work with me.”

Yfeko then offered a glimpse into those “bad habits” he was referencing, saying: “I used to sleep late, used to be on the games late, just being a child, really.

“Since I’ve come into men’s football, it took me a bit of a while to turn into a man, to realise that this is actually what I want to do.

“I’ve just got to, not sacrifice, but a lot of things that I’ve wanted to do in the past, just not do any more and just find a new way of living life.”

Updated 24/7 with expert analysis from the heart of Govan.