Glasgow Rangers head coach Philippe Clement has shown a willingness to offer opportunities to young players at Ibrox since his arrival in October.
The Belgian boss has provided Ross McCausland, Leon King, and Cole McKinnon with chances to catch the eye, whilst Zak Lovelace had emerged as a first-team option prior to getting injured shortly before the former Monaco chief's appointment.
Those players will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Barry Ferguson and Allan McGregor, who went on to be icons at Ibrox, along with gems like Nathan Ferguson and Billy Gilmour, who were sold after showing potential in their early days in Glasgow.
However, not every talented young player gets the opportunity to make a breakthrough in the first-team, and that was the case with former academy starlet Malcolm Ebiowei – who was let go before progressing to the next stage of his development.
The now-20-year-old starlet was sold by Rangers back in 2021 and he has now gone on to be worth more than current academy graduate Ross McCausland in the present day, which shows that the club had a howler with him.
Malcolm Ebiowei's Rangers story
The talented winger started his youth career with Chelsea and made the cross-London switch to their rivals Arsenal in 2015, where he spent almost five years.
Rangers then snapped him up from the Gunners on a free transfer in February 2020. The forward then lasted around 18 months or so at Ibrox before his eventual departure.
Ebiowei played for the Light Blues at U18 level but there is no data available on his performances for the club's youth teams, as he did not play above the U18s.
When he joined the Gers in 2020, the then-teenager claimed that he was looking to work hard to break into the first-team, due to the chances Steven Gerrard gave to young players at the time.
Unfortunately, however, that first-team opportunity never came and Derby County swooped in to sign him for an undisclosed fee in September 2021.
It remains unknown as to exactly why it did not work out for Ebiowei in Glasgow. Perhaps the young talent did not settle into life in Scotland, did not impress the coaches at Rangers, or simply wanted to return back to his home country to get a chance to play in the Premier League further down the line.
On paper, however, it was a howler from them to allow the electric winger to move on from Ibrox as he has since developed into an exciting gem, who is now worth more than McCausland.
Ross McCausland's current market value
At the time of writing (21/04/2024), Transfermarkt currently values the Northern Ireland international at €1m (£863k), which is the highest valuation of his career to date.
McCausland came up through the youth ranks at Ibrox and caught the eye whilst playing for the B team, with nine goals and five assists in 41 matches – along with five goals in nine Youth League outings.
He made his first-team debut under Giovanni van Bronckhorst as a substitute against Hearts in the Scottish Premiership in May 2022, and assisted McKinnon for the third goal in a 3-1 win for the Gers.
This season has been his first year of regular senior football, though, under Clement. He has made 33 appearances for the first-team in all competitions this term to date.
24 of those games have come in the top-flight of Scottish football but the forward has failed to provide consistent quality at the top end of the pitch.
Appearances
24
Starts
13
Goals
1
Assists
2
Big chances created
2
As you can see in the table above, McCausland has only been directly involved in three goals in 24 matches in the Premiership this season, which is an average of one every eight games.
This shows that the Northern Irish youngster has not been a reliable option for Clement when it comes to winning matches in the final third by scoring or creating goals.
That is to be expected, of course, at the age of 20 as the talented gem still has plenty of years left ahead of him to develop and improve his final pass or shot.
Rangers, though, fumbled an academy talent who has now gone on to be worth more than McCausland at the same age, having thrived elsewhere.
Malcolm Ebiowei's current market value
At the time of writing (21/04/2024), Transfermarkt values Ebiowei at €2.5m (£2.15m) and that is €1.5m (£1.29m) more than the current Rangers gem is worth at his moment in time.
The exciting whiz, who was hailed as "special" by talent scout Antonio Mango, joined Derby from the Light Blues and hit the ground running with seven goals in seven U18 matches for the Rams.
Wayne Rooney then handed the teenager an opportunity to impress in the Championship and the forward provided one goal and two assists in 16 matches.
His form as an 18-year-old in the second tier convinced Premier League side Crystal Palace to swoop in to secure his services after Derby were relegated to League One in 2022.
He has made five appearances for the Eagles at first-team level since his move to Selhurst Park, and racked up three outings in the Premier League.
Ebiowei was sent out on loan to RWD Molenbeek during the recent January transfer window, and he has produced one assist in five league games so far, having started one of those matches.
At the age of 20, the England U20 international has already made his Premier League debut and showcased his quality in the Championship in England, which has helped his market value to soar to €2.5m.
Meanwhile, McCausland, who turns 21 next month, has yet to prove himself as a quality option at first-team level for Rangers, and his €1m market valuation reflects that.
This shows that the Gers, and Gerrard, had a howler with Ebiowei as they did not do enough to show him that there was a first-team pathway for him at Ibrox.
He has now gone on to showcase his potential in the top-flight in England and could go on to have a successful career with Palace, or elsewhere, instead of emerging as a future star for Rangers from their academy.
