For an extended period over the summer, Serge Atakayi was mysteriously absent from both first-team and Academy operations at Auchenhowie.
Then, late last month, he returned to action for the Development XI in the Glasgow Cup. It transpired that injury had kept him sidelined for well over a month, meaning he missed the vast majority of pre-season.
It was an unfortunate time for him to pick up a problem, as it meant he had no opportunities to impress the manager, despite the raft of friendly matches played at Ibrox.
As recently as April, the young winger revealed that Steven Gerrard considered him as a viable first-team option going forward [Daily Record]. However, after a loan move to SJK Seinajoki in Finland and then the injury layoff, he looks to have dropped out of the reckoning.
Is young Rangers winger likely to leave next summer?
Atakayi’s contract is due to expire in June [Transfermarkt]. That means he still has plenty of time to earn an extension and he should get opportunities to make his mark in either the Caramel Wafer Cup and the Glasgow Cup.
Yet, the club’s rampant recruitment of wingers over the summer suggests there’s no genuine belief that Atakayi is good enough to break into the first team.
Jake Hastie, Jordan Jones, Brandon Barker, Sheyi Ojo and Ryan Kent came in to join Jamie Murphy and Glenn Middleton. A small positive is that most of those players favour the left side, while Atakayi tends to play on the right.
Yet, even still, those transfers don’t really suggest that Gerrard wants to leave room for homegrown talent out wide. Even if he did, Atakayi might not be the first cab off the rank.
Sure, he earned his first-team debut last November against Motherwell. Yet, since then, two other young attackers in Dapo Mebude and Josh McPake have also made their bows. Right now, they seem to be held in higher regard than Atakayi.
A couple of outstanding development performances over the next few months could change things. However, as things stand, the odds look very much stacked against the young speedster.
