Glasgow Rangers forward Ross McCausland was one of the stars of the show on Tuesday night as he played a key role in the thumping 5-2 win over Dundee at Ibrox in the Scottish Premiership.
The Northern Ireland international scored the first goal for the Gers on the night, prodding the ball past Jon McCracken, before going on to register an assist for the fifth goal from Scott Wright.
A product of the Gers academy system, the 21-year-old starlet has emerged as a regular first-team option under Philippe Clement this season and looks to be one of the most promising young talents at the club.
However, the Light Blues could now land an even bigger talent than McCausland as they reportedly eye up a teenage sensation from England.
Rangers' interest in Championship starlet
According to the Daily Mail, Rangers are one of a number of teams interested in a possible swoop for Stoke City teenager Sol Sidibe in the upcoming summer transfer window.
The report claims that Premier League giants Chelsea have been keeping tabs on the 17-year-old defensive midfielder, who was dubbed a "terrific" talent by former boss Alex Neil.
It adds that the Light Blues and Italian side AC Milan are also keeping an eye on his situation as they eye a potential swoop to sign the young whiz.
Derek Ferguson
16 years 1 month 14 days
1983
Bailey Rice
16 years 4 months 14 days
2023
Tom Walsh
16 years 4 months 27 days
2012
Paul Nsio
16 years 5 months 15 days
2022
Zak Lovelace
16 years 7 months 7 days
2022
As you can see in the table above, plenty of players have made their debuts and broken through at first-team level for the club well before their 20th birthday, which suggests that the potential is there for Sidibe to come straight into the senior side.
Why Sol Sidibe is a bigger talent than Ross McCausland
McCausland had only played three first-team matches for Rangers prior to the 2023/24 campaign and has now racked up 39 games by the age of 21, with 37 of those coming this season.
The 21-year-old had been playing academy football on a regular basis prior to the current term, with nine goals and five assists in 41 B team outings.
Sidibe, meanwhile, made his first-team debut for Stoke at the age of 16 and has already played eight senior games for the club in all competitions this season.
This means that the young whiz has already made more than three times as many first-team appearances for the Potters by the age of 17 than McCausland had by his 20th birthday last May, when he had played two games for Rangers.
Sidibe has also registered one goal and seven assists in 18 academy games this season for Stoke, which is one goal contribution every 2.25 matches on average as a defensive or central midfielder.
Whereas, McCausland managed 14 goals and assists in 41 B team appearances as a winger, which is one every 2.93 outings on average. That average drops to one every 4.33 first-team games with three goals and six assists in 39 games.
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The Light Blues forward enjoyed a fantastic evening against Dundee on Tuesday night.
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Sidibe could, therefore, arrive as a bigger talent due to his emergence at a much younger age whilst also making a bigger impact in the final third at youth level, despite playing in a less attacking position.
This is why Clement should push to bring him to the club this summer as the Stoke youngster could emerge as a future star for the Light Blues, given the promise he has shown so far.
