Rabbi Matondo sees Rangers nightmare leave a 'mark on him' as Hannover loanee sees reputation skyrocket
Rabbi Matondo's former manager at Schalke Domenico Tedesco has lavished praise on the Rangers loanee after his dream debut against Hamburg and knows he has a point to prove after his tough stint at Ibrox.
After falling out of favour with Philippe Clement, the injury-hit winger was bombed out to German second tier side Hannover 96, who will have an option to buy the Wales international outright next summer for €1.2milllion (£1million). And Matondo was wasted no time in reminding Gers fans of what he is capable of after bagging a superb goal in Sunday's 2-2 draw with Hamburg.
Tedesco brought the 24-year-old to Schalke in January 2019 but only got to work with the wide man for a few weeks before getting the sack two months later. But Tedesco - who lost his job as head coach of the Belgium national team earlier this year - has seen vast improvement in Matondo since then, and reckons his challenging spell in Govan has 'left a mark on him'.
Speaking to BILD, he said: "My impression is that he has developed well in recent years. The time in Glasgow in particular has certainly left its mark on him.
"Unfortunately, we only worked together for two months (at Schalke). But during that time I got to know Rabbi as a polite and likeable player.
"Rabbi was still very young when he came to Schalke from the Manchester City youth team. New team, new environment. That's not an easy step for an 18-year-old.
"Even back then, his greatest strengths were his incredible speed and his offensive one-on-one skills. The 96 fans were able to see this for themselves when he scored to make it 2-1 in Hamburg. His start with the great goal in Hamburg was great. I hope it continues like this."