The winger has only featured a handful of times for Danny Rohl this season and now looks headed for the exit door
Rabbi Matondo has been left out in the cold at Rangers for quite some time now so perhaps it’s fitting that the Welshman is now in talks to leave Glasgow for Norway.
Reports suggest SK Brann are interested in the 25-year old, whose four year spell at the club is set to come to an end in the summer upon the expiration of his contract. He was close to departing in the January window when Norwich City expressed an interest in his services but nothing came to fruition.
Matondo was signed by Giovanni van Bronckhorst in 2022 from Schalke 04 with the reputation of being a young speedster who would give Rangers a new dimension in attack through his sheer pace alone. However, after failing to make his mark on the team not just under Rohl but others before him, inconsistency and injury woes have curtailed his Rangers career to date.
Matondo in talks with SK Brann
The Daily Record confirmed Rangers are ‘on the verge’ of offloading the winger to the Norwegian side, who they faced away from home in the Europa League last October. The hosts emerged comfortable 3-0 victors in what was Rohl’s first match in the Light Blues dugout.
While Brann are set to acquire Matondo on a free, Rangers could yet benefit from the deal through future bonuses and a potential sell-on fee. The ‘Pride of Bergen’ came fourth in last season’s Eliteserien but have had a disastrous start to this year’s campaign, losing both their opening matches.
The winger is yet to complete his medical at Brann, who have until Tuesday to finalise the deal on Norway’s transfer deadline day. Should he depart Ibrox over the next week, he will have made just 26 starts in royal blue over a four year period. He is currently on international duty with Wales, where he continues to get called up regularly despite his Ibrox circumstances.
Why has Matondo struggled for minutes at Ibrox?
His £2.5m price tag from the Bundesliga meant big things were expected of the Welsh International as he came through the door in Govan. Despite his struggles, Matondo had some memorable moments of individual brilliance, notably his late, long-range equaliser against Celtic at Ibrox in April 2024. He also helped the club qualify for their first Champions League in over a decade with his goal in a qualifier against PSV a year earlier.
However, his lack of end product and injury record eventually led to his downfall at Rangers. After struggling to make it in the team under Michael Beale, he was then loaned out to Hannover 96 by Phillipe Clement. Under both Russell Martin and Rohl this season, he’s continued to struggle for minutes since his return to fitness and has been behind Mikey Moore, Djeidi Gassama and Andreas Skov Olsen among others in the selection pecking order.
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