Clinton Nsiala departed FC Nantes as a boy and has left AC Milan as a man. His coming of age will be at Rangers. Nsiala is older, wiser and better and a move to Ibrox will define the next phase of his personal and professional development.
At 15, Nsiala signed a three-year contract with Nantes, the club he had joined from the Cercle Paul Bert Bréquigny academy. He left his home city of Rennes to pursue a career, to realise and ambition and fulfil a talent. At 20, he has made the decision to leave Serie A for the same reasons.
Nsiala became the third signing of the summer for Philippe Clement on Monday evening. The announcement of his long-term contract came out of the blue, but the move had been some time in the making. Given the importance of the coming seasons for the player and his family, Nsiala had to make sure he was making the right decision at the right time.
The first deliberation regarded his future at the San Siro. Milan had offered Nsiala an extension to his contract ahead of last season and they returned to the negotiating table in February in an attempt to convince him to put pen-to-paper for a second time with the Rossoneri.
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Nsiala had first signed on as a 17-year-old. Paolo Maldini, the man who scouted him and secured his services from Nantes, sat to his right as he committed himself to the San Siro. In the seasons that followed, Maldini became a mentor figure, offering the a young, left-sided centre-half advice on how to play the position, and how to play it the Italian way. Nsiala established himself for the Primavera, the Under-19 side, and his reputation grew in correlation with his technical and tactical levels.
It is Rangers who will now look to enhance all of those aspects in the coming seasons. Philippe Clement has bought into the potential of Nsiala, and the Frenchman has put his faith in Clement and Nils Koppen, the director of football recruitment. A source close to Nsiala has detailed the importance of the vision of Clement and Koppen in securing a signature, with Clement’s track record of improving up-and-coming talents during his stints in Belgium and with AS Monaco a particular selling point. Nsiala believes he is in the right place at the right time.
“We are excited to add a talented young player in Clinton to the squad,” Koppen said. “He joins as an exciting talent who we believe can develop and take his next steps under our manager, Philippe Clement, and his staff. We look forward to welcoming Clinton to Glasgow as we continue to shape the squad ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.”
The Rangers Review understands that three Serie A clubs made a pitch for Nsiala in recent months, as well as two sides in Ligue 1. In Germany, Schalke 04 and Hamburg were interested suitors. Nsiala’s representatives were free to speak with other clubs over the last six months and Koppen has been a long-time admirer of the French youth internationalist. When Rangers’ data scouting flagged Nsiala up as a potential target, Koppen’s belief was reaffirmed and the move was rubber-stamped by Clement after a period of monitoring in the second half of the season.
(Image: Getty)
It was during that time that Nsiala made an impression outside of Italy. The defender paid a heartfelt tribute to Ignazio Abate, his Primavera coach, on Monday evening and it was as part of his side that Nsiala reached the UEFA Youth League final. Real Madrid were beaten in the quarter-finals and Porto overcome in the last four but a 3-0 defeat to Olympiakos denied Nsiala the chance to bow out in Milan with a medal.
His former club were also semi-finalists last term as Nantes lost out on penalties to the soon-to-be champions from Greece. A delegation from the Ligue 1 side were reunited with Nsiala and noted how he had matured as a player and a person during his time in Italy. He had made the transition from boy to man. Now he must go from an academy player to a first team player.
"It's time to say goodbye to this team, I'm doing it after three years of personal and professional growth,” Nsiala wrote on his Instagram page. "A team that became family and took me as a child and now leaves me as a man. A team and a coach who believed in me until the end.
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"Speaking of coaching, Ignazio Abate, if I am what I am today besides my feet and hard work, it's all because of you, who have always believed in me and continue to do so. Proud to wear the AC Milan shirt. Thank you for the support. Thank you to AC Milan. The journey continues.”
One source at Nantes told the Rangers Review that Nsiala is ready for whatever lies ahead of Clement’s side this term and for the rigours of domestic and European action on a regular basis. No promises have been made in that regard and Nsiala will take his chances like everyone else within Clement’s ranks when he officially joins up with the squad on July 1. He will be part of the group that travels to Holland for a training camp and Rangers will play two fixtures there before working through their schedule of matches against Manchester United, Birmingham City and Union Berlin.
The break has been something of a working holiday for Nsiala. Time has been spent with his family to regroup and recharge ahead of his move and his personal fitness trainer has joined him to ensure he is in peak physical condition for his first pre-season at Ibrox.
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At 20, he still has scope to enhance his build, to become quicker and stronger. Yet he is already a powerful, athletic presence and adept tactically. Nsiala operated as both a six and an eight at Nantes before moving into central defence with the national side and it was in that position where he learned the tricks of the trade – the concentration, the positioning and the leadership – that is required in Serie A. Two sources close to Nsiala have told the Rangers Review of his willingness to make his voice heard when required, but also of his eagerness to learn from those around him.
This term will represent a step up for Nsiala. When he signed on at Nantes, he played up a level in a side a year older than he was. When the decision was made that he wouldn’t work to a similar schedule in season two, he sought opportunities elsewhere in order to continue his progression. He had spent two years in an association academy in Brittany from the age of 13 and he was on the move to Milan when he felt it was the best option for his career.
There were no hard feelings at Nantes then and there are none today, with one senior figure at the academy expressing his delight to the Rangers Review that their former pupil had joined a club with such standing in the game and with aspirations of future success. Nsiala was, much like this summer, not short of offers at that stage and he wished to move through the levels quicker than the plan that Nantes presented him. That belief in his ability has now taken him to Ibrox.
Glasgow will not be the last city that Nsiala calls home from home. His latest move has taken him to a new level. The coming seasons will show how many more he has to reach.
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