Sport
Ex-Man City talent takes offbeat £1.65m path to English debut
Ex-Rangers and Manchester City talent Dire Mebude completes an unorthodox route to his first game in English football as Bristol City overcome Southampton.
The highly-rated 19-year-old is currently on loan at the Robins after securing a temporary switch from Belgian side Westerlo in the January window.
Replacing Anis Mehmeti in the 86th minute of Bristol City’s 3-1 win over Southampton, the substitute appearance completes what has been a highly unorthodox path to Dire Mebude’s debut in English football.
Now, the challenge for the Scotland youth international – who is the brother of fellow ex-Rangers Academy graduate Dapo Mebude – is to make his mark on the English Championship.
Dire Mebude makes debut in English football
Dire Mebude left Rangers for the Etihad back in 2020 with the Ibrox side said to have banked a not unsubstantial compensation fee as part of the deal.
Since then Mebude played in the Manchester City youth set-up, all the way up to U21 level, but the highly-rated youngster never got the chance with Pep Guardiola’s first team.
Moving to Westerlo in the summer, Rangers also banked 15% of the £1.65m fee the Belgian side paid for the attacker’s services.
It’s a substantial fee for a Belgian club to pay for a player who has had no first-team exposure, with Dire Mebude making his first steps in the professional game in the Pro League this season.
However the forward was limited to only three matches in the early part of the campaign before Mebude returned to England with Bristol City in January.
Rangers Academy faces Premier League battle
Rangers will really struggle to hold off interest from the Premier League in their top youngsters with the money and prestige on offer down south head-spinning for anyone.
The Ibrox club know all too well this challenge, having lost Dire Mebude to Manchester City, Rory Wilson to Aston Villa, and Billy Gilmour to Chelsea in recent seasons.
Rangers offer a different pathway and route into the top game and the example of Dire Mebude proves that it can be a big challenge to make it happen down south.
Nonetheless, approaching four years after leaving the Ibrox academy, Dire Mebude has finally made his debut in English football only no-one would’ve wagered it’d come via a switch to Belgium.
