Mateusz Zukowski sees Rangers transfer exit leap of faith backfire as forgotten loanee becomes Lech Poznan outcast

Rangers misfit Mateusz Zukowski looks set to return to Ibrox at the end of the season after being bombed out of the Lech Poznan first-team.

Rangers beat off interest from Legia Warsaw to land the defender in January 2022 in a deal understood to be worth around £400,000 from Lechia Gdasnk with the club looking to provide competition for captain James Tavernier following Nathan Patterson's move to Everton. After making just one appearance for the Light Blues though, Gio van Bronckhorst and sporting director Ross Wilson opted to move the 21-year-old on and he returned to Poland with Lech Poznan.

His current side hold an option to buy in the deal but appear unlikely to make the move with Zukowski making just three appearances for the club this term - with his last coming back in October 2022. The 21-year-old is currently being limited to minutes for the Poznan reserve side with boss John van den Brom refusing to turn to the right-back in their push for a Europa Conference League spot.

After his return to the Ekstraklasa, sports director Tomasz Rzasa set Zukoswski the challenge of proving he can develop further following his brief stint in the Scottish Premiership. He said: "Zukoswski is here to strengthen the rivalry on the right-back, where he will fight for a place in the squad

"Mateusz knows our league well. He left it for a strong club, where he strengthened himself physically. We are counting on its further development in our club."

However, he has failed to hit those heights and the move away from Rangers now appears to have backfired. While he could have looked to catch the eye under Michael Beale, the Ibrox boss is unlikely to offer a fresh start to the Poznan outcast with the likes of versatile Adam Devine -