Rangers target urged to sign for Barcelona after 'what they did for Lionel Messi'
03/18/2025 04:30 AM
Rangers run to the quarter-finals of the Europa League won’t do them any harm when it comes to trying to tempt players to join them in the summer.
Nils Koppen can also point to the international call-ups of Nicolas Raskin to Belgium, Mohamed Diomande to the Ivory Coast and Hamza Igamane to Morocco as what young players can achieve if they get their heads down and put in the hard work at Auchenhowie.
There is also Rangers’ recent history that has seen a series of sales to top five leagues and names on the club’s record transfer sales list.
Experience needs to be signed in the summer, however, there will also be players with a similar profile to that of Relebohile Mofokeng, a player who has also been linked with Barcelona.
To be precise, it is Barcelona’s B team, however, one former Kaiser Chiefs and South Africa legend believes that the La Liga giants is the only place that the flying winger should be considering.
Relebohile Mofokeng urged to snub Rangers for Barcelona
Mofokeng’s physicality has been questioned and he has also been advised against moving to Rangers as a result.
Doctor Khumalo, speaking to the the Idiski Times, reckons that patience is the key for the 20-year old Bafana Bafana prodigy:
"So, he will be with the B team to learn and understand the culture and the norms of Barcelona. That's what they did for (Lionel) Messi, because he was just a player who had that disease, and they helped him medically and sportingly (in reference to Messi being prescribed growth hormone treatment).
"And I can tell you from experience that Rele will benefit from it. I went to Argentina, which was already established, but when I got there, they had me work with a physical trainer for three weeks, a three hour session daily to get me fitter. I remember when I came back home I'd bulked up and my parents did not recognise me.”
Why Rangers should look to steal a march on Barcelona
With doubts still surrounding Oscar Cortes, and Rabbi Matondo up for sale, Rangers need to find more than one solution on the wing.
Vaclav Cerny at £8m could be too expensive unless the San Francisco 49ers takeover sees the sort of transfer guarantees that the outgoing board has been looking for.
That leaves the requirement for two senior wingers and, at least, one rookie or development winger and a move for Mofokeng makes a lot of sense.
Celtic’s attack have shown for years that size doesn’t matter in Scotland with pace and end product more important than physicality.
Mofokeng has both, which is exactly why Barcelona want him, even if comparisons to Messi might be a little premature.
