Nnamdi Ofoborh was signed that long ago that many Rangers fans will have forgotten all about him until we saw the pictures from the first day of pre-season training yesterday, as covered by Vital Rangers.
The 21-year old midfielder was signed from Bournemouth on the 2nd of February but headed out on loan to Wycombe Wanderers where he had enjoyed a previously successful period to get much needed game time before heading up the road to Ibrox, however, it didn’t quite work out like that as he recently revealed, via The Daily Record:
“I was struggling with an injury when I got to Wycombe on loan last season. In the last few months it just got worse. It got to a point where I didn’t feel it was right for the coaches to put me in.
“It wouldn’t have been fair on me or the team. People didn’t know this because we didn’t speak about it publicly at the time. But I was struggling with the injury and that’s why I didn’t play.
“It was difficult to get my head around it. I could see on social media that Wycombe fans were wondering where I was. They didn’t know if it was down to me not playing well or not being able to be selected.
“But it was none of that. I just couldn’t do it. I was already at less than 100 per cent when I got there. During and after the first few games, I was nowhere near it. So we all thought it would be best to leave me out.
“I didn’t want to hurt myself or damage my chances before I even got up to Rangers.”
Hopefully he is 100% fit now, the last thing we need is another midfielder who can’t guarantee us 50 games a season if required, he seemed to be in good spirits during fitness testing at Auchenhowie so we should get to see a first glimpse of him when the friendlies kick off next week.
The one thing Steven Gerrard can point to in his three years at the club is his ability to develop talent – especially in the middle of the park – Ryan Jack, Glen Kamara and Joe Aribo are all significantly better players than when they first arrived at the club so Ofoborh could be a real find by the recruitment team if comparisons to the Finland International are accurate.
We could be going into the Champions League qualifiers with just Steven Davis, Scott Arfield, Aribo and Ofoborh available in midfield so the Nigerian youth cap has to be ready to hit the ground running and be thrown in at the deep end – welcome to Rangers!