Any Rangers fan who had listened to Brian Laudrup’s warning wouldn’t have been too surprised by Abdallah Sima’s man of the match display as he helped bring Steven Gerrard’s side’s 12-game unbeaten run to a shuddering halt as Slavia Prague eliminated the Ibrox side from the Europa League at the last-16 stage.
Sima produced a performance that even Light Blues legend Laudrup himself would have been proud of in his Rangers heyday. The Great Dane had picked out the then teenage star as the main danger as he previewed the second leg of the Euro tie after a 1-1 draw in the Czech capital. Laudrup had watched Sima shine in the previous round when the Senegalese put the seal on a 2-0 win over Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester City at the King Power Stadium to set up a tie with Rangers.
"I was working for Danish television when Slavia beat Leicester City 2-0 at the King Power Stadium last month after a goalless first-leg draw in Prague,” wrote Laudrup in his column for the Daily Mail at the time. “They have players who can do real damage in the likes of Abdallah Sima and Nicolae Stanciu. Sima, in particular, is a wonderful player. He is only 19 years of age, but is very good in the air and can take players on.He's quick and is scoring for fun in the Czech league. He maybe wasn't at his best in the first leg but if he reaches top form, it's going to be a tough night for Gerrard's defence.”
And how right Laudrup was as he terrorised Rangers on a night when Slavia Prague’s excellent display was overshadowed by the ugly racism row caused by Ondrej Kudela’s abuse of Glen Kamara. It’s not a game the light blue legions will really want to look back on - until now. That’s because Rangers are closing in on a loan move for Sima, who has since moved on to Brighton.
Ex Gers stopper Leon Balogun would be able to vouch for Sima’s speed after he was left scrambling when the four-times capped international pounced on an error from the Nigerian international before racing away and it required VAR to confirm a red card wasn’t shown when Balogun knocked the attacker to the ground.
Sima generally popped up everywhere, giving Gers a torrid time. At various times over the two legs he played on the left and right wing as well as centre forward where his height - standing at 6' 2" makes him an aerial threat and he has proven deadly with headers. It shows his versatility. He had a 77 per cent success rate for accurate passes in that return and, despite performing better in the Govan return, boasted an 82 per cent success in the first game.
His exploits that season – particularly the games in Europe – saw him rocket to prominence. He netted 16 goals and bagged six assists in 33 appearances for Slavia. He was linked with English giants Arsenal and Manchester United with a £50million price tag slapped on his head. His style saw him dubbed ‘the new Thierry Henry’ and Slavia president Jaroslav Tvrdik said a couple of months before those Rangers ties: “It takes £50million to let him go in January.”
Sima did move on at the end of that season but for a much more modest fee in the region of £7m and to the more modest surroundings of Brighton, rather than the English giants he had been linked with. It was still a remarkable journey for the youngster who was playing local football in Dakar until the age of 17. He arrived in Europe a year later when Czech third tier side FC Taborsko took a chance on him. Slavia signed him before he had even played a competitive game, earmarking him for their 'B' team but he quickly progressed and the rest is history.
It's been a remarkable journey but earning his big English Premier League move hasn’t gone to plan as he’s failed to replicate that early promise. He was immediately loaned out to Stoke City by Seagulls boss Graham Potter but injuries contributed to a miserable time under Michael O’Neill at the Potters. He only made four appearances for the Stoke City first-team although did enjoy a better time in the under 23s as he scored four goals in five games. But it has to be said that injuries did play a big part in that Midlands spell. Sima has had an ankle complaint and persistent issues with his back, pelvis and groin - the latter of which required surgery.
His versatility has also worked against him as he struggles to find his best position. At Slavia Prague had played mostly as a right winger in a 4-1-4-1 formation but also as a centre forward yet he shooting accuracy was just 44.6 per cent and an obvious area for improvement. Fast forward to last season when he moved to Angers on loan in Ligue 1 and France and that particular start was just 29.5 per cent, albeit in a tougher league than the Czech top flight.
However, that spell in France last season has at least helped him rediscover his confidence and form. He got the game time he needed after playing almost the entire season - 34 in Ligue 1 and three in the French Cup, scoring six goals and providing one assist.
Sima showed flashes of his old self and he took to social media to say it is time for a new adventure. Rangers looks like being that destination and if he can produce at Ibrox on a regular basis what he did in that one-off game in March 2021 then Michael Beale will have made a shrewd acquisition.
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