Philippe Clement protege reveals gnawing snub that set...

Philippe Clement protege reveals gnawing snub that set him back as £20m striker prepares for Napoli mega bucks

Cyril Ngonge, a striker headed to Napoli, has disclosed how Rangers manager Philippe Clement turned him down as a young player

and why that ultimately helped him seal a £20 million transfer to the Italian champions.

The Verona player, who has been linked to Arsenal and a number of other elite teams in Europe, has decided to move to the Naples

club in exchange for the enormous transfer fee. However, Ibrox manager Clement once gave Ngonge, the son of former Kilmarnock

player Michel, permission to leave Brugge five years ago because he didn’t think highly of him.

The 23-year-old was shipped out on loan by Clement to Jong PSV before being allowed to move permanently to RKC Waalwijk, where

he impressed enough to win a move to Italy. And he looked back at when Clement told him he wouldn’t make it. Ngonge said: “I was

18 and I was given a few starts at Brugge including against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.

“I participated in the club’s summer pre-season, but Philippe Clement joined a few months later. However, he summoned me to his

office and informed me that he intended to purchase a replacement player for my role.”I didn’t take his advice to go on loan very well

at the time. In retrospect, I wish things had turned out differently.”That probably cost me time in terms of my development, and I

might have arrived at my current point sooner. But through the good times and the bad, those years in the Netherlands truly formed

me as a man and as a player. In any case, I have no regrets. I accept the state of my path.