Serge Atakayi has tweeted a heartfelt message to his teammates, the coaching staff and the fans after leaving Rangers for SJK.
The club announced earlier this week that the 20-year-old had joined the Finnish Veikkausliiga outfit for an undisclosed fee, which was reported by the Daily Record to be in the region of £100,000.
It signals the end of a three-year spell in Glasgow for Atakayi, a player who impressed in the Academy, before going on to make his first-team debut in a Premiership clash against Motherwell at Ibrox in November 2018.
A significant injury sustained at the start of this season, though, has seen him fall down the pecking order and now, ultimately, to his departure.
Based on this message, it seems that although ‘being so far away from home has been difficult’, he would have stayed at Rangers in an ideal world. Yet, with no first-team opportunities forthcoming ‘its best’ for him to ‘move on and start a new chapter’.
Verdict
This is an unusually open and heartfelt message from a player following his departure from a club, and it’s clear how much being at Rangers meant to Atakayi.
Last season, the talented forward looked to be one of the biggest prospects in the club’s youth system. All that changed very quickly, though, with other attacking players such as Josh McPake, Dapo Mebude and Kai Kennedy all since rising to prominence.
Now 20, playing regular senior football now has to be the priority, and therefore, leaving now rather than running down his Gers contract, looks the right option.
It’s a classy goodbye from Atakayi and Bears will hope to see him lighting up the Finnish top-flight sooner rather than later.
