A heartbreaking Rangers debut, fleeing Congo, Graeme Murty 'Dad' jibes and Steven Gerrard miscommunication - Serge Atakayi interview

The 23-year-old arrived at Ibrox in the summer of 2016 from the Democratic Republic of Congo via Finland where he currently resides.

His childhood dream of becoming a footballer would see him having to cope with the emotional wrench of leaving behind a loving family.

And he admits his dream was one that wasn’t shared by his mother.

“Growing up in Congo was really difficult, my parents broke up when I was young," he recalled.

“My mum didn’t want me to play football, she just wanted me to go to school.

“I understand my mum was concerned because African life is very difficult if you don’t study. She would say, ‘Go to school! Go to school! Go to school!’ But I was like, ‘I just want to play football.’

“I was about nine years old when a local football coach said there was a Finnish guy coming who is taking people to go and play in some tournament in Europe.

“I remember it very well. I was playing for 10 minutes and the guy just picked me out.

“I was so surprised, I was like, ‘How can it be me?’

“When the coach said I was going to Finland, I was like, ‘Where? Finland? I’ve never heard of it!’"

And play in the tournament young Atakayi did, but after it was over, the coach in charge of his team made a shattering decision that was to have major repercussions for his young charges.

They were walked to a local police station and asked to seek asylum to remain in Europe.

Complications meant the youngster, who was only 11, was unable to phone home for four months - leading to his parents fearing the worst outcome possible.

He said: “When we were due to go back the coach said, ‘We’ll stay in Europe, we won’t go home, here it’s a better life.’

“For four months, we couldn’t call our parents, it was difficult. When I got the chance to talk to my mum again she thought I had died because we didn’t call them for so long.

“Personally, it was hard but when I think about it now, it was good as it helped me grow up and become a man.

“Some things are meant to happen in life but at that moment I was really young, I didn’t speak English, I didn’t speak Finnish so it was difficult but when I learned the language everything started to get easier.”

Moving to Finland would be the very first step on the ladder for young Atakayi in his bid to follow in the footsteps of his idol – Didier Drogba.

He said: “I loved Drogba growing up.

“I’m a big Chelsea fan because I think it was my mum or my dad who bought me a Chelsea shirt with number 15 and Drogba on the back. Every time I scored when I played outside I tried to do his celebration.

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“My mum said, ‘We should call you Drogba.’ I said, ‘Always mama, one day I will be Drogba, one day.’

“I’m not yet but my dream is not over, you never know in football.”

Atakayi was signed by Finnish outfit FF Jaro where he was coached by the father of former Kilmarnock star Alexei Eremenko and it wouldn’t be long before some of the top clubs in Europe were being alerted to his impressive displays. He said: “When I started playing, people were saying I was really good and said to me that I just had to believe in myself.

“I was 14-years-old but I didn’t want to play with players my age, I always wanted to play with players two or three years older than me because if I played with players my age, it was really easy for me.

“I progressed to the Jaro B team and from there I started to get trials at Fulham, Leicester City, Standard Liege and Middlesbrough.

“All my trials went well. I could’ve signed with Fulham but it didn’t happen because I didn’t have a passport.

“Standard Liege was also close to happening but my agent didn’t agree with the club on something.

“Then Rangers came to me, they asked me if I’d go to South Africa with them to play in a tournament and I said, ‘Yeah, why not.’

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“I went with them for two weeks, it was a really good trip and when I was there they said, ‘We really want to sign you but your club is asking for a lot of money.’

“I started to push my agent and my club that I wanted to move because I really enjoyed my time with the boys when I was there.

“Then my club agreed to let me go and I moved to Rangers.”

It was love at first sight when the 16-year-old Atakayi was shown around Ibrox. He recalled: “I knew a little bit about Rangers, I knew it was a massive club in Scotland and I knew Dioufy was there so I watched them a little bit.

“When I heard they wanted me I started going on YouTube to watch them more and when they had a game I just wanted to see them.

“When I saw the stadium for the first time I was like, ‘I want to play here every week!’

“It was a massive stadium, I wanted to make my dream come true and make my debut there and play for the first team but it was not easy. I had to work hard every single day to show the coach that I was ready.”

Moving to Scotland would present its own challenges with regards to the language but Atakayi says help was always at hand. He said: “I had a Scottish family who I lived with.

“They were good people who took care of me.

“When I moved there, they met my Finnish family when they came to visit me in Scotland.

“My Scottish family helped me a lot. I remember my English wasn’t as good as it is now but they taught me every day which was massive. They wanted to know about my life and even now we are still in contact.

“They really care about me, they ask me how I am and how I’m feeling and how my family is.

“When I moved to Glasgow, I also had one month’s worth of English lessons in the stadium. After the month they said my English was almost perfect so I didn’t need any more tutoring.”

His English was improving and on-the-pitch Atakayi was excelling in the Academy under the watchful eye of Graeme Murty although his relationship with the former Light Blues caretaker boss saw him take a bit of a ribbing from his fellow teammates.

Atakayi receives some instructions from Graeme Murty during Steven Notman's testimonial between Berwick Rangers and Rangers in 2017

He said: “Some players would say ‘Graeme Murty is your dad!’ because I was playing a lot with the Academy but for me, it’s because I was working hard. I gave everything and that’s probably why Graeme Murty trusted me and he gave me a chance when he moved to the first team.

“When I was involved with the first team quite a lot and players were saying, ‘Ah, you’re in the first team because Graeme likes you, he’s your dad!’

“But he was really good with the players, he pushed me a lot.

“Another massive influence during my time there was Peter Lovenkrands.

“Peter was really good for me because we had the same agent, he was a winger so he helped me, he would tell me stuff and also tell me about the club and what the club means to him.”

Atakayi also credits an ex-Celtic player with helping him settle in Glasgow.

He recalled: “Outside of Rangers, Youssouf Mulumbu helped me a lot.

“He was really good for me because he is also from Congo. When he moved to Celtic, my agent said he has another player from Congo who plays for Rangers and he said, ‘I want to meet that guy.’”

Despite not featuring under Mark Warburton or Pedro Caixinha, Atakayi felt the full wrath of the former Portuguese bullfighter during a trip to Firhill.

Atakayi explained: “I never spoke to him a lot but I just remember one game when I was on the bench against Partick Thistle away, we were 1-0 down in the first half. He was really angry in the dressing room, he was shouting, throwing the bottles off the walls.

“I was shitting myself!”

As Caixinha’s tenure ended following a poor run of results, the promotion of Murty from the Academy would benefit Atakayi greatly as he would feature in the Florida Cup during the winter break in January 2018.

Atakayi lines up with his Rangers teammates ahead of facing Atletico Mineiro in the Florida Cup

It would be a competition famous for the first team photo alongside Spongebob Squarepants but for a teenage Atakayi, it would provide him with a priceless opportunity to play alongside a player he idolised growing up.

He recalled: “I was on holiday in Finland and then Murty called me and said, ‘You’re travelling with us to Florida.’

“I was really happy, I spoke to my family and told them, ‘I’m going with the first team to America, I’m so buzzing!’

“Murty trusted me in the Academy and he gave me the chance with the first team. I was nervous when I heard I was starting against Atletico Mineiro, I thought, ‘Wow!’

“We won 1-0 and I got to play with Niko Kranjcar. I couldn’t believe that I was playing on the same pitch with a player I had watched on TV.

“Niko also spoke to me quite a lot. He used to tell me, ‘Just believe in yourself, believe you are a good player.’

“He told me, ‘Don’t be nervous, just play how you play and everything will be good.’

“At that moment, the first team players trusted me they believed in me. It felt really good when you see some players like Niko speak to you and tell you that you’re a good player and just to believe in yourself.

“You’re like, ‘If this guy believes in me, why not?’

Atakayi also credits current Rangers skipper James Tavernier for helping to improve his game.

He said: “Tav is a really good player, he’s a leader, he was always trying to help the young players.

“I remember we went to Connor Goldson’s house one time, that was my first time speaking to Tav so close.

“We sat and had something to eat and they asked me about my life, I told them about my story and they were like, ‘What?’”

He may have had a taste of first-team action in a friendly tournament but it wouldn’t be until the arrival of Steven Gerrard that Atakayi got to sample the Ibrox atmosphere properly.

Although he admits, he found the former Liverpool captain difficult to understand to begin with. He said: “The first time I spoke to him I didn’t understand him so well as he was from Liverpool.

“The first time I came to Scotland it was hard to understand the Scottish people and how they speak English.

“I’m like, ‘What’s this guy saying?’ I said to him three times, ‘Excuse me, I don’t understand what you’re saying.’

“He’d just ask me, ‘Did you enjoy your holiday?’ but I didn’t understand, I was like, ‘What?’

“But he was a really good manager and all his staff were really good. They believed in me and trusted me. They always gave me advice like, ‘You’re fast, you should know in one-v-ones, you can beat your guy and don’t stop with the ball, just go!’

“I remember when he came into the dressing room for the first time, he said, ‘I don’t care about your name, if someone deserves to play, they will play.’

“That was good from him, he gave me my chance but it didn’t go how I planned and I got injured.”

Atakayi’s dream debut would, unfortunately, last just 10 minutes when he was on the receiving end of an industrial challenge from Motherwell’s Richard Tait during Rangers’ 7-1 trouncing of the Steelmen in November 2018.

He remembers the day vividly: “I was so surprised to make my debut.

“I was part of the first-team squad against Spartak Moscow away. We travelled back on Friday, the first team game was on Sunday against Motherwell and Tav texted me a message saying I was on the list for tomorrow.

“I was not surprised because I thought I would be there but sitting in the stand.

“Then the gaffer just spoke to me and said, ‘Are you ready today?’ I was like, ‘What?’

“He said, ‘You will make your debut today,’ and I was like, ‘What? Really?’

“I was really, really happy. I didn’t even text my family and friends, even my agent didn’t know I was on the bench because I was just so happy.

“Every first-team player said, ‘You deserve it, you’ve been really good for the Academy so now you deserve your chance.’

“I remember it was 5-1 and Steven Gerrard shouted at me, I didn’t know we’d scored a sixth goal, he shouted, ‘Come!’

“Then I heard the fans, they were so happy when they saw Steven Gerrard call me over and when I got on the pitch, the fans were so loud.

“I thought all these people had watched me when I was young in the Academy, now I’ve got the chance so I need to show them what I can do.

“I was nervous but when I touched the ball, I did some good things and after that, the nervousness was gone.

Atakayi is taken out by Motherwell's Richard Tait that saw him limp off just 10 minutes into his Rangers debut

“I think I did well when I came on in the 10 minutes before I got injured.

“I was really upset, I cried. After the game, every first-team player and staff came to talk to me and hug me because I was really sad.

“They said, ‘Just keep your head up, the positive thing is you made your debut.’

“I was happy I made my debut but I didn’t want to get injured because I waited so long to get my chance but to play at Ibrox in front of 50,000 people was a dream.”

Unfortunately for Atakayi he wouldn’t sample the unique Ibrox atmosphere again and would depart to return to his adopted homeland of Finland to sign for SJK for a fee of £100k in December 2019.

He says it was his decision to leave the club: “I had just started a family.

“I’ve got a kid and it was hard because I wanted to be closer to him.

“It was my first kid and I always wanted to see him. I didn’t want to always phone him. There was a lot of travelling, when we had a break at Rangers I had to ask if I could go home.

“I was asking myself, asking my family, asking my close friends, ‘What’s the best thing for me?’

“I started to like Rangers so it was really hard to leave but I had to go back home.

“Even now, I never want to miss a Rangers game when they play, I always want to see them.

“I am thankful for what the club gave me, they gave me a chance and they trusted me.

“I remember the day when I left, I cried, it was sad. I never believed I could leave but it was my decision.”

He may have been left a little over two years ago now but Atakayi still bleeds blue and is hopeful Rangers can secure two-in-a-row. He said: “When you’re a champion, it’s not easy because there’s pressure.

“Hopefully they can handle the pressure. It will be tough but now I can say I’m a Rangers fan, I hope we can win again this year.

“Everything is possible, they’re just one point behind so we have two more games with Celtic as well so everything is still open. Nothing is lost at this point.”