Who is Nnamdi Ofoborh? Rangers forgotten midfielder at the centre of Ibrox exit theory during health

Rangers fans would be forgiven for failing to remember Nnamdi Ofoborh is still on the books at Ibrox. The 23-year-old has yet to make his Rangers debut with the situation taken out of the club and Ofoborh's hands after a medical issue was flagged up early in his Ibrox career. However, he is back at

Rangers fans would be forgiven for failing to remember Nnamdi Ofoborh is still on the books at Ibrox.

The 23-year-old has yet to make his Rangers debut with the situation taken out of the club and Ofoborh's hands after a medical issue was flagged up early in his Ibrox career. However, he is back at the forefront of fans minds after a cryptic social media update on Sunday evening appeared to take a veiled dig at the Rangers after his absence from the first-team picture.

it was a surprise outburst from the midfielder who has rarely spoken about his status at the Scottish Premiership side. Sharing an update on his Instagram story, the 23-year-old posted three images of himself in hospital. He captioned one: "Two years, two operations, hundreds of appointments." And another read: "Silent on the situation so I look like the bad guy, all the mistreatment of the last two years will come out."

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But who is the forgotten man at the centre of the debate, and where does he stand with the club? Record Sport takes a look.

When did he sign?

Ofoborh signed for Rangers in the summer of 2021 as a free agent from Bournemouth off the back of two successful loan spells at Wycombe Wanderers. He helped the side to promotion to English League One, but struggled for game time with his parent club while they were in the Premier League. He was shipped out to Wycombe again, after penning a pre-contract agreement with the Light Blues at the same time as Jack Simpson, who also agreed to leave Bournemouth while Steven Gerrard was at the Ibrox helm.

It shows the amount of time the midfielder has been out of action that former teammate Simpson joined, then left the club for Cardiff City while Ofoborh has yet to play a single game for the club. He's been in Govan under Gerrard, Gio van Bronckhorst and Michael Beale but has failed to feature for the Light BLues.

Why is he out?

During pre-season back in 2021 Gerrard confirmed Ofoborh would have to step away from the first team after medical scans revealed a "red flag" in a heart test. The then-Ibrox boss said: "Unfortunately something has flagged up with his ECG, which is the heart test.

"We've got top medical people here at the club now and we check all the players thoroughly from head to toe when they arrive. Unfortunately there's been a bit of a red flag with a heart issue so he's going to see some specialists in the coming weeks and we need to do more tests before we move forward."

Record Sport understands he continues to receive treatment away from Ibrox, and it is understood that the midfielder has been treated by top cardiac specialists across Europe.

What have his managers said?

At the time the heart condition was confirmed, Gerrard insisted the focus was on the player's recovery as he left the door open for a return to action. After revealing the heart condition had been flagged up, he said: "It's disappointing and frustrating but we'll have to manage and cope. The important thing is the player's health, which we'll obviously focus on first and foremost."

After Gerrard left for Aston Villa and Van Bronckhorst succeeded the Liverpool legend, the Dutchman admitted he felt "really bad" for the player after he couldn't even join his teammates on the training pitch. He said: "He’s a player of course who had some problems – still has problems – and it’s a situation we have to be very careful about to make sure we make the right decisions for his health first.

“That process is still going. I don’t know what will happen in the future but for me the most important thing is health. He comes to the training ground once in a while and he’s still one of the boys."

Van Bronckhorst’s successor Beale has also played his cards close to his chest on the midfielder, stating: 'With that sort of situation, as you can imagine, the people here are not experts and you need to get real specialist opinion on. He has been able to do some physical activity, but obviously the care and the duty we have got in this one is really, really big. No news officially on it, it's just away in the background."

What has Nnamdi Ofoborh said?

Well, the cryptic post has been one of the rare updates from the midfielder. Speaking at the start of 2022, he vowed to make a comeback in a brief statement on social media.

He said: "This year (2021) has easily been the toughest year of my life. All the depression, anger, sadness and loneliness i’ve experienced but extremely grateful for the support from family, friends and teammates. It has been a tough year mentally and physically and as you can see a lot has gone on behind the scenes.

"Many doctors said Im lucky to be here but I don’t believe in luck but the blessings from God. I owe it all to God for aiding me on this comeback trail. I will be back."

How long is left on his contract?

Ofoborh signed a four-year deal with the club in the summer of 2021, meaning that the Rangers midfielder will be with the club until the summer of 2025 as it stands. However, his social media activity has sent speculation over an early exit into overdrive.

Transfer sleuths have spotted that he no longer follows Rangers on social media, and following his cryptic Instagram story it could signal an early Ibrox exit has been agreed behind the scenes. Record Sport understands that Ofoborh remains a Rangers player despite they theories.

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