Schalke 04 has a growing crop of interest for Rabbi Matondo and, against Dusseldorf, all eyes will be on the Welshman. So make it good.
It doesn’t take much to make vulture clubs pay attention to Schalke 04 players, that’s for sure. By now, we know the drill. Acquire or raise young talent, grow them up really good, let them loose on the world stage and then watch them walk for free.
That’s the pessimistic way of looking at it. Optimistically, at least we’re really good at identifying and raising young talent, and Rabbi Matondo is yet another such case. Although this time, Matondo hasn’t even truly touched down yet and we already have the Manchester United’s and the Real Madrid’s sniffing around to pluck him away from poor struggling Schalke.
This was meant to be a much bigger year for Matondo but he has struggled to settle in with this Royal Blue attack because, let’s be honest, everyone has struggled to settle in with this Royal Blue attack.
Schalke 04 has given Rabbi Matondo his stage
But against Augsburg, with the United rumors already in the airwaves, Rabbi Matondo looked pretty decent in his own right. His speed and anticipation were top-notch, even if he did get frustratingly flagged offsides a couple of times.
In the end, it was his attempt on goal that was Die Knappens’ best chance on the day, their only true chance to get back into the match.
And that is exactly why Matondo is here in the first place.
Going up against Dusseldorf mere days after losing so awfully to Augsburg, it might be a stretch to think that Matondo will start again, since he was subbed off due to perceived exhaustion just a couple of days ago. That said, you can bet that what he did against Augsburg, and the effort he put in, was not wasted on David Wagner.
Wagner is desperate for attacking solutions and Matondo, if nothing else, is capable of something special, even if he hasn’t found a way to deliver on that consistently just yet. He’s still one of the few on this club that fans have faith in to turn the attack around and his fanbase is clearly growing with each appearance. It now includes some of the top clubs in the world.
Of course, Matondo doesn’t care about that. His aim, by his own admission, is to give back to Schalke. Which is so generous it almost sounds overly generous.