At the age of just 21, Rabbi Matondo is a young man in a hurry.
So rapid that the Bundelisga’s biggest boffins believe he could give Erling Haaland a serious run for his money - the winger had already clocked up air miles at five different clubs in four different countries, before arriving in Glasgow yesterday morning for the next stage of his journey.
A product of a Manchester City production line which has raked in almost £170m in sales of academy players over these last few years, Matondo checked in at Rangers to be handed Joe Aribo ’s old No.17 shirt - a week after the Nigerian’s £10m move to Southampton. And he’s already got one eye on using his first few months in Scotland as a springboard and fast-track towards this year’s World Cup Finals with Wales. Matondo, it seems, is not one for hanging around.
But, shortly after putting pen to paper on a four year deal on Tuesday lunchtime, the speed merchant explained why he feels now is the time for him to start laying down some roots, after spending the last two years packing his bags between Germany and Belgium with a six month stop off in Stoke.
“I got a lot out of it," Matondo said when asked about his decision to cut his first team teeth abroad, as a City graduate with a £10m price tag. He went on: “There are not many players from the UK that tend to go abroad so it was a great experience and I enjoyed every moment, playing in Belgium, playing in Germany and seeing a lot of different things from what you’d see in the UK in terms of living and life.
“So, yeah, I feel like it’s helped me mature into who I am today. And I look forward to bringing what I’ve learned and all my experience from my time abroad here to Rangers.”
The £3m fee which Rangers have coughed up to recruit Matondo from Schalke 04 means he has made close to £14m worth of transfers already despite failing to nail down a permanent home. Initially, he hit the ground running in the German top flight before falling out of favour and being farmed out on loan, first to the English Championship and then to Cercle Brugge.
Matondo was one a raft of highly priced youngsters to be cherry picked from Pep Guardiola’s moneyball kindergarten. Jadon Sancho and Pablo Maffeo also ended up in the Bundesliga. Between all three, the Germans had to splash out a combined £27.5m.
And yet, with just three top team appearances to his name, Spaniard Maffeo was the only one to have actually made it out of the creche and into Guardiola’s dressing room. Maffeo is now back in his homeland at Mallorca. Sancho is back in Manchester, except on the other side of the divide.
And now, after being lured to Rangers by manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst and director of football Ross Wilson, Matondo is bidding to prove that the talent scouts were right all along about him too. He said: “I feel like I took a good step last season in Belgium. But I felt like whatever step I took next, it had to be the right one. It had to feel right.
“I just feel like everything about the club feels right. Speaking to Ross and the gaffer and my family as well, we all know how massive Rangers is, and the interest they had in me from the get-go, I really appreciated it. I’m grateful for it and now I just want to give back everything they’ve given to me so far. So, yeah, I just feel like it’s the right step to come to a massive club like Rangers.
“Obviously we talked a lot about football, how they see me fitting in at Rangers and how they’ve been looking at me and scouting me. So there have been some very good conversations and they made me even more excited to pull the Rangers top on.
“It’s not every day you sign for a manager the size of Giovanni. So I’m grateful that he’s had an interest in me and he thinks I’ll fit his team and his style of play.”
Matondo’s searing pace is clearly a major attraction. Those German statisticians clocked him motoring at around 22mph on two occasions in a Schalke shirt which is scorching stuff in any language.
As an 18-year-old at City, after being head picked from Cardiff City’s youth team, he was already quicker over the ground than Raheem Sterling, Kyle Walker and Leroy Sane. But he insists he can bring a whole lot more than just blistering running power to van Bronckhorst’s squad.
He went on: ”Obviously, like you mention my pace. But I want to bring goals and assists, dribbling and be on the front foot. I always look to be as positive as I can on the pitch and obviously help the team defensively when needed as well.
“I feel like I have some good attributes I can bring to the team and hopefully create some memories not just for the team but also for the fans. I’m looking forward to it. It’s mindblowing how big Rangers is, how passionate the fans are. Like I said, when I heard about the interest it was always one I would consider because of the magnitude of the club, the fans and the history.”
And, with 11 Welsh caps on his CV already, Matondo also hopes to showcase those attributes back on home soil - just before his countrymen head to Qatar for a first World Cup in 64 years. He nodded: “Of course, that’s a big target. Any player wants to represent their country on the big stages - and this is our first World Cup in such a long time - so I want to be a part of it. Anything I can do to be a part of it I’ll do.
“So I’ve come to Rangers knowing that they play in Europe mostly every year and obviously that’s a big attraction for any player. So, of course, I’ve come here looking to play in those big games.”
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