Ah, the winding career of one Derek Cornelius, born 25th November 1997, in the far flung land of Canada. This defender, standing at 6ft 2in (1.88m) and weighing in at 13st 7lb (86kg), is currently "blessed" with the number 13 jersey at Rangers, the non-friendly half of the Glasgow duo you're rather familiar with, dear reader. A determined chap, Cornelius has represented his homeland's national team.
Cornelius' career carries the sweet scent of a nomad. In the barren month of January 2017, he packed his bags from Neumünster in Germany’s Regionalliga Nord and set his compass towards Javor Ivanjica in Serbia’s SuperLiga. Quite the journey east!
In January 2019, home was calling—or at the very least, the North American continent—and Cornelius took the plunge, joining the Vancouver Whitecaps in the MLS. Over three seasons at the Whitecaps, our Canadian prodigy made a total of 35 first team appearances and scored a solitary goal. Hardly Messi-esque, but we carry on.
July 2021, and the lad was on his travels again. This time, he was dispatched on loan to Panetolikos in Greece where he blessed them with a few goals and a couple of handfuls of appearances over two seasons.
In January 2023, Cornelius exchanged his Greek garb for Swedish threads. The Whitecaps sent him off to Malmo FF, where he turned up 37 times and secured himself five goals over two seasons.
Then came August 2024, and some genius at Marseille thought they’d pull out the chequebook. A fee of around £3.4 million and Cornelius stepped into the French limelight. In the following season, he made a respectable 21 first team appearances, with the current season yielding a further pair of appearances.
You may be wondering about the Rangers association. Well, in September 2025, Cornelius ran up the Union Jack and switched allegiance, in what they're calling a 'loan', arriving north of the border in Scotland.
Since arriving at Rangers for the 2025-2026 season, he has made seven first team appearances and nabbed one goal. In addition, he’s turned out for them in the League Cup with two starts, and in the Europa League, five appearances as a mix of starts and subs. It’s still early days, but one wonders how the Glasgow audience feels about their latest addition.
Afterall, at the end of the day, we all know where the real heart of Glasgow lies. But let’s not spoil the story for ol’ Cornelius. We’ll just have to wait and see.
