Highly-rated Rangers youngster Leon King has delivered his verdict to RangersTV following his stunning goal in a 4-0 win for the U19s against RB Leipzig in the Mercedes-Benz Junior Cup on Saturday afternoon.
Following a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Rapid Vienna in the opening fixture, the young Gers grew into the quirky six-a-side tournament, defeating Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 before saving their best performance until last.
In the closing stages of the clash against the high-flying Bundesliga club, 15-year-old defender, King, scored the pick of the goals.
Surging forward from well inside his own half, he exchanged a one-two with a teammate on the left flank, before firing low and hard into the bottom left corner from outside the box.
“Obviously with the disappointment of the first game – we didn’t really think we played the way we should have – the next two games we won our 1 vs 1 battles to a man…and if we had Rapid Vienna now, then I think it’d be a different outcome,” he told RangersTV.
“Obviously, it was a bit hard in the first game because we weren’t used to it. But, as games have went on, we’re a lot more confident and calm on the ball and you can probably see that in our play. So we’ll just go into tomorrow and hopefully, get into the semi-finals.”
King then produced a smile when asked about his individual contribution.
“I just thought I’d try something different and just went up the pitch and scored!”
Simple as that!
Verdict
King speaks impressively here, especially considering he’s still a few days shy of his 16th birthday.
His goal on Saturday offered an idea of what all the fuss surrounding the Scotland U17 international is about, with his control, pace and composure all befitting of a player several years his senior.
The Daily Record reported back in November that King had turned down an initial offer of a first professional deal at Rangers with the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and yesterday’s opponents, RB Leipzig, all credited with interest.
However, Bears will be hoping that the club are doing everything in their power to keep King at Ibrox, as he looks a fine prospect.
