Early days in the transfer window but, we are starting to see an increase in speculation for potential targets with one name already likely to raise a few eyebrows and get the juices flowing, so to speak.
Wales international Rabbi Matondo is a former Manchester City academy graduate who signed for Schalke in 2018 for a fee in the region of £8million, after struggling to make an impact with the German giants he spent an unsuccessful loan spell at Stoke City before finally showing what he is capable of in the Belgian Jupiler Pro League, scoring 10 goals with two assists in 27 appearances.
The link to Rangers has come from Guardian journalist Will Unwin who claims that Matondo – with 10 caps for his county – was close to signing for Anderlecht before Vincent Kompany left the club, now though, it appears both us and Celtic are keeping tabs on the winger with just a season left on his contract at Schalke.
He came very close to agreeing terms with Anderlecht before Kompany’s exit. Rangers and Celtic are both very interested in Matondo
— Will Unwin (@Will_Unwin) May 30, 2022
Ironically, just a few weeks ago we were linked with his brother Japhet who is at Cardiff City, however, at 16-years old he would be unlikely to be expect an immediate impression on the first-team, Rabbi, on the other hand, would need to hit the ground running on the right-hand side of our forward line given that he would probably come at a cost – he is currently valued at over £3.5m.
Matondo certainly fits the profile of what we need; young, has produced decent numbers and is affordable with the potential to sell him on at a profit further down the line, despite being Welsh, he also counts as homegrown for English teams seeing as he was developed at Man City.
It’s one that’s gone a little bit under the radar so far but certainly one to keep an eye on given the source.