RABBI MATONDO has made several stops on the journey that has brought him to Rangers. Now he is sure he is on the right track at Ibrox.
A youth career with Cardiff City and Manchester City was the precursor to a multi-million pound switch to the Bundesliga with Schalke 04. Stints at Stoke City and Cercle Brugge have followed.
The time spent at each club and in each country has helped shape Matondo as a player and a person and he is older and wiser for the experiences gained during his formative years.
"Going to a new team, it is always going to be hard at first," Matondo said of his move to Germany three seasons ago. "But going to a different country at a young age, at 18, was big for me.
"I just felt like it was the right step at the time to go and explore that challenge and to see where it takes me and to see how I develop as a player and a person.
"It has helped me a lot. I am grateful for that move and grateful to Schalke always for giving me that opportunity to play my first professional games and score my first professional goals. It was good.
"I feel like it helps me now when I have played against some top, world class players and top, world class teams. Coming to Rangers, where there are high expectations and we play against top teams in Europe and sometimes in the league.
"You have to be ready for every game at Rangers so I guess the Bundesliga has helped me in that in terms of the quality of opposition that I have come up against over the years. I feel that I am in a good way in order to showcase what I have got in me for Rangers here."
Matondo put pen-to-paper on a four-year deal at Ibrox this summer and has had little time to adjust to life in Glasgow, both on and off the park, during a hectic start to the campaign.
That settling in process is variable for each player. It is one that the Wales internationalist is well accustomed to by now.
"It has been unbelievable," Matondo said. "It has been a great experience so far, been so easy to settle in with the lads, the staff and everyone around the club. I have enjoyed it so far.
"In a way, it has been kind of easy because I have been used to it in the last couple of seasons. I was obviously on loan last season away from Schalke.
"I went on loan twice in the space of six months, so I got used to meeting new team-mates and being around new surroundings and moving around. I guess it wasn’t that hard.
"But then, of course, coming into a club like Rangers and meeting the staff and players here, when you first go into a place it is always that bit nerve-wracking and you are thinking you need to settle yourself in. But it has been top and I have been grateful for the welcome I have had from everyone and the fans."
The opening weeks of the campaign have allowed Matondo a chance to show the Ibrox crowd why Van Bronckhorst was so keen to bring him to Ibrox and what he can add to the side in a position that has been a long-term issue for Rangers.
His sights are set on domestic silverware and European success. The 21-year-old also has aspirations on the world stage as he attempts to earn his spot in Qatar.
"It is what you want as a footballer, what you grow up aspiring towards," Matondo told RangersTV. "I look forward to it.
"That is the aim and I want this challenge. I want to be playing for the best competitions available. I look forward to whatever is in front of me.
"It would be massive [to be at the World Cup]. Like I said, when you are younger those are the competitions you want to be involved in, especially for your country.
"Being able to potentially go to a World Cup with Wales will be probably one of the best things to happen in my career. I look forward to it and hopefully I will be there."
