Rangers are now under more pressure than ever this summer to move players on following the club’s unceremonious exit from the Champions League.
The Ibrox support is still licking its wounds after the Gers fell to a 2-0 Hampden defeat against Ukrainian outfit Dynamo Kyiv in Glasgow.
The match was marred by a disgraceful refereeing decision which resulted in Brazilian left-back Jefte being sent off for winning a header, with Kyiv’s consistent play-acting eventually paying off.
With Rangers set to lose over £26m in revenue as a result of the failure, it’s heaped the pressure on Nils Koppen to shift several of the club’s bungling squad.
And now one player for whom patience is wearing extremely thin is being linked as a potential replacement for a £40m Premier League bound attacker.
Matondo on Championship shortlist
Rabbi Matondo has been a source of immense frustration for Rangers fans pretty much since the Welsh international signed from FC Schalke.
One of several players in the Rangers squad who are yet to live up to their price tag, reputation or basic expectation, there will be few who shed a tear if Matondo moves on this month.
Rangers paid around £2.5m to sign Matondo from the Bundesliga 2 side in 2022 and continue to pay the 23-year-old around £1.2m per season to prop up the club’s physio room.
The winger has struggled to leave any kind of major impression on the first team and has been resigned to unimpressive appearances from the bench in the early part of the season.
Rangers fans need their attacking players to take a greater degree of responsibility and be ruthless in their decision-making with major doubts over Rabbi’s ability to deliver on either.
Now, Football Scotland understand that Leeds United are genuinely interested in taking Rabbi Matondo to Elland Road to aid their Champions League promotion push.
Leeds United cash catches Rangers eye
The report states that Leeds United are considering a transfer offer or a loan-to-buy offer for Rabbi Matondo as the window enters its final furlong.
Football Scotland believe that Matondo is ‘expected’ to leave Ibrox alongside the likes of Todd Cantwell and Ianis Hagi before the window slams shut in just over a fortnight.
Whilst the report gives scant details on the costs involved in any potential transfer, Rangers fans will note some big changes at Leeds United this summer.
The English Championship side have already sold Colombian winger Luis Sinisterra to Bournemouth for £20m, according to BBC Sport.
As reported by BBC Sport, Dutch attacker Crysencio Summerville has also moved to West Ham to the tune of £25m.
And this is before Brighton launched a £40m move for Georginio Rutter this week, the Seagulls’ latest move pushing Rangers target Abdallah Sima even further down the pecking order.
It means that Leeds United have some big holes to plug in their squad and as much as £85m to go out and fill them.
Whilst we don’t suspect Rabbi Matondo will cost that much, Rangers could demand the sort of fee from Leeds that makes any deal for the Welshman plausible.
