Former Rangers academy product Dire Mebude seems destined for bigger things after another prolific season for Man City’s PL2 side.
With 29 goal contributions in 32 appearances, it’s easy to see why the uber rich outfit targeted the Scotland youth cap for their own development squads.
Creating or scoring a chance every 72 minutes, Dire Mebude has shown the sort of end product that Michael Beale is crying out for and we could do a lot worse than keeping an eye on the powerful winger’s contract situation.
Mebude’s current deal ends in 2024 and for all that he is excelling in Man City’s second string, the step up to the first team is massive.
Clubs like PSV Eindhoven and Club Brugge are already circling and Rangers should be too.
A club of City’s size, with pockets as deep, will also always be able to go out and hoover up the best talent from around the world.
Players of international class currently block Mebude’s path to the first team and the 6ft 3inch tall forward will soon need to be playing senior football to see if he is as good as observers think he might be.
At 18-years old, he already has a powerful frame but has footwork and technical ability to match, a real triple threat forward.
If I had the choice between playing Mebude or Fashion Sakala, I’d back the young Scot to be more consistent over a season given his potential and composure.
Mebude’s output, style of play and versatility would be perfect for the role that the Zambian international current holds almost by default.
Dire Mebude is still young enough that he could, one day, be classed as a club trained player if we were able to persuade the Scotland Under-21 international to come back up the road having “loved it” at Rangers the first time around.
In recent years Rangers have lost Mebude, Rory Wilson and Billy Gilmour who all had a great chance to impact the first-XI at Ibrox, proving how tough it is to retain the best academy products.
Keeping them stimulated long enough and persuading them to turn down the bright lights of the Premier League is proving harder and harder, especially when you consider the wages on offer.
Leon King and Alex Lowry are here, for now, but with young Scottish talent being at a premium, targeting a player who loved his time at Rangers makes a lot of sense.
I wouldn’t normally be in favour of loaning players to develop them for other clubs but this would be different given the teenager’s connection with the club and potential for a permanent transfer.
If Michael Beale – or whoever is doing the negotiations in Ross Wilson’s absence – could strike a deal similar to the one that saw Ianis Hagi arrive on loan before being signed permanently then we could be on to a winner.
It’s just a shame that Man City and their very deep pockets fancy Mebude to have a big future too.
