Former Rangers loanee Nathan Oduwa has said that he hopes midfielder Ovie Ejaria hasn’t made a ‘big career mistake’ cutting short his stay at Ibrox.
It was announced last week that the 21-year-old would be returning to parent club Liverpool early after his season-long loan in Scotland was terminated early, and Oduwa didn’t see the news coming.
“I was totally shocked to see that Ovie cut his loan move short,” he told the Daily Record. “At a big club there are constant demands placed upon you and I thought Ovie would do very well and succeed in Scotland.
“It is unfortunate that the loan hasn’t worked out. I just hope that he has not made a big career mistake and that he regrets leaving Rangers when he did. I hope Ovie has no regrets because he is a talented footballer and has lots of potential.”
OPINION
The whole Ejaria situation seemed to unravel very quickly. He appeared to be doing well at Rangers and had produced consistently solid performances for Steven Gerrard’s side this season, but clearly there were some underlying issues that saw him return to Anfield ahead of time. Like Oduwa says, you do wonder whether he’s made a big mistake because playing regularly for a club of Rangers’ size is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Ejaria is a talented player, but there is no guarantee that he’ll scale those heights again. It was a surprise to see his loan terminated and for Gers it is a shame because they’re losing out on a gifted footballer who looked set to provide them with solid depth over the course of the campaign. Hopefully, as Oduwa says, the youngster doesn’t end up regretting his decision because it was a big risk for him to cast the Ibrox outfit aside. Hopefully he’ll still go on to have a decent career, but you do question his judgement here.