Rabbi Matondo, born September 2000 in England, finds himself, at the tender age of 25, as a forward for the Rangers. Primarily parading as a left winger, the lad sure made an impression, however short, on the Welsh national team. Standing at a rather average height of 5ft 8in (1.75m for those of us who dabble in metrics), and weighing in at a rather average 10st 5lb (or 66kg if you fancy), he trains his sights on the goalpost from behind the number 17 jersey.
The monkish-named young man embarked upon his professional football journey by joining Manchester City as a trainee back in the summer of 2016. Unfortunately for our man Matondo, the bright lights of the Premier League seemed a trifle too bright.
Come January 2019, Matondo was on the first plane to Schalke 04, Germany, in return for a hefty bag of around £8.1m. Consequently, he made his German debut for Schalke in the 2018 - 2019 season, figuring in seven first team appearances. The 2019 - 2020 and 2020 - 2021 seasons saw him gifted with 20 and three league appearances respectively, netting a grand total of two goals. Don't all clap at once.
In January 2021, Matondo found himself on loan to a perhaps more suited home, Stoke City. He appeared 10 times for the home side, even managing to squeeze in a goal. Later that year in August, he was loaned out to Cercle Brugge in Belgium where he finally seemed to hit some form, or what might pass as form with 26 appearances and nine goals in tow.
However, in July 2022, Rangers elicited him from Schalke in Germany for a sum of around £2.7m, where he made his Scottish debut. Matondo found himself as more of a fixture in the 2022 - 2023 and 2023 - 2024 seasons with 19 appearances each, netting a meagre five goals in the latter. He continued to feature for the Rangers until the 2024 - 2025 season.
Like a cat with nine lives, Matondo was once again on loan in January 2025, this time to Hannover 96 in Germany. He retrieved a single goal from his 10 appearances there, before returning back to Rangers in June of the same year. This stop-start return to form continues into the current season of 2025 - 2026 with, you guessed it, no appearances as yet. Perhaps he's on a sabbatical? We can't all be prolific goal scorers, can we?
On the international front, Matondo had a run out for Wales in the World Cup Qualifiers Europe 2024 - 2026. One can imagine his glee at managing a singular goal from three substitute appearances. Yes, you read that correctly - substitute appearances. It is a tough old football world.
