Mohamed Diomande: Rangers sign 'big prospect' from Nordsjaelland on loan with obligation to buy
- Published
Mohamed Diomande (right) faced former Rangers winger Ryan Kent's Fenerbahce this season
Rangers have signed "one of the biggest prospects in Scandinavia", Philippe Clement says as Mohamed Diomande agreed an initial loan from Nordsjaelland.
The Ibrox club have an obligation to buy the 22-year-old midfielder on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee at the end of the season.
The Ivory Coast Under-23 cap will head to Glasgow once granted a work permit.
"There were a lot of teams interested in him," Rangers manager Clement said of his second January signing.
"He's still a young player, but he has already a lot of experience also. He was one of the biggest prospects in Scandinavia."
Diomande signed for Nordsjaelland in 2020 from the Right to Dream Academy in Ghana, helped them finish runners-up in the Danish Superliga last season and has played 21 times this campaign for the side currently sitting fifth in their top flight.
Reaching the Europa Conference League group stage, where they finished third in their section despite thrashing Fenerbahce 6-1 and Ludogorets Razgrad 7-1, further enhanced Nordsjaelland's reputation and team-mate Ibrahim Osman is being linked with a move to West Ham.
"They are a team that everybody follows," Clement said. "It's not easy to get a player to Rangers from that team because there's a lot of competition. Dio was really interested in the project. We had a lot of talks about that.
"It's a signing for short but also for long term. That's not easy to do in January and so I'm delighted the club could do that."
Clement added that Rangers are trying to "build a model" where they can progress players through the academy, or bring them in from outside, then develop them to earn money in the transfer market in future "and not let players get out of contract".
The Belgian, who recruited Wolves winger Fabio Silva on loan this month, described Diomande as "really versatile".
"He's a good technical player with a lot of running capacity," he said. "He's still developing in strength - I think we can make him stronger here.
"He's really fast, he's agile. He's creative and he can play disciplined - he can do the six, eight role, he can do the 10 role, he plays even at left full-back or winger in moments."
Meanwhile, Diomande told Rangers' website he is "very excited to join such a historic club and I've heard a lot of good things about the team".
"I had a lot of great conversations with the manager, who told me about his plans for the team and where I would fit in, which helped convince me that Rangers was right for me," he said.
Meanwhile, in an emotional goodbye to his Nordsjaelland team-mates, he added: "I am excited to explore what this opportunity can mean for both myself and Rangers FC and, after many good years here, I believe it is the right time to take the next step and prove what I can do 'out there'."
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