If there is one players Ibrox Noise has historically had misgivings about, it’s Mohamed Diomande.
He looked good on paper, and at £4.5M from the Nordjaelland factory of output appeared a shrewd piece of business.
Alas, while not terrible, Mohamed Diomande just hasn’t lived up to that price, and hasn’t delivered.
Ergo, losing him through injury has made little difference to Rangers’ title charge.
Stats
Before this sounds like a Dio-bashing piece, let’s look at his numbers:
On sofascore Dio ranks a poorly 210th in the SPL ratings, at 6.7. For tackles he’s ok, 45th with 36.
For passing accuracy, 49th with 85.58%.
It’s all poor to average. He doesn’t really shine in any particular area for his position.
And if we add the dire disciplinary record where he gets silly bookings and indeed red cards, Dio just isn’t one who has stood out in the two and a half years he’s been at Ibrox.
Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast agreed and overlooked him for the Africa Cup of Nations.
Dio just hasn’t impressed Ibrox Noise at all. We know Rangers fans these days get very precious about substandard players, demanding they be given time.
Dio has had plenty of it, and hasn’t raised his game.
Never poor, never great, just something below middling and his recent injury didn’t really cost Rangers an awful lot overall.
He is yet to regain his place in the team, although what is his place? CM? DM? AM?
Position
His actual position doesn’t seem too obvious, and in no slot does he stand out more than another.
He’s one we’d be quite content to sell for a potential profit, and word is there’s interest from Besiktas, that was apparently rejected last summer.
£6.4M probably wasn’t enough.
Split
The tough part of the season is upon us now, the Split and the toughest teams. Diomande is more likely to be a liability during this period than an asset.
If another good bid comes in, we’re not sure we’d miss Mohamed Diomande too much.