Attacking 18-year-old in Rangers first-team training

By Danny Wright

Teen sensation Serge Atakayi has confirmed that he has been training with the Rangers first-team.

The 18-year-old has not made a senior appearance for the Light Blues since he signed from Finnish club FF Jaro last summer, but could follow in the footsteps of youthful duo Myles Beerman and David Bates who have recently made their first-team debuts.

Atakayi is hoping to catch the eye of Pedro Caixinha in order to emulate his Under-20s teammates.

“I have trained with the first team and that was good for me. I just need to keep going and wait my time,” said the attacker, as quoted by the Evening Times.

“First I need to prove myself at Under-20s and if I can do that and play well then hopefully I can move up to the first team. I hope my chance will come but I need to keep working.

“I am happy for Myles and Batesy getting their chance and I want to follow them. All the Academy players have a chance to do what they have done and they have played very well when they have been given their chance.”

Atakayi was born in DR Congo, but chose to represent Finland at Under-18 and Under-19 level after he gained dual nationality.

He moved to Ibrox after having trials with English clubs Leicester and Fulham.

The teenager is currenty the youngest goal scorer in the Finnish top-flight's history after he found the net for FF Jaro at the age of 16 years and 107 days.

Atakayi still has two years left on his Ibrox deal so still has plenty of time to make the step up to Caixinha’s first-team. However time is limited this season with the Light Blues having just five games to play.

The youngster isn’t the only Finnish representative at Rangers as they have recently recruited former international Jonatan Johansson to their coaching staff.

In other Rangers news, Graeme Murty has said that this Celtic player helped one of Caixinha's youngsters on Sunday.

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