Latest news with #ThiernoBallo
BBC News
10-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Rangers consider Windass return
Rangers are considering a move to take Josh Windass back to Ibrox, but Coventry City, Derby County and Norwich City are also admirers of the 31-year-old Sheffield Wednesday forward and there is further interest from Germany. (Sheffield Star), externalAjax, Mainz and Rangers are monitoring Thierno Ballo and have made enquiries about the 23-year-old Austria winger from Wolfsberger. (Florian Plettenberg on X), externalForward Luuk de Jong, 34, has returned to training at PSV Eindhoven amid links with Rangers. (De Telegraaf via Daily Record, external)Read Thursday's Scottish gossip
Scotsman
09-07-2025
- Sport
- Scotsman
Rangers 'monitor' 23 y/o international described as a "prodigious talent" as bid rejected for winger
Rangers are continuing to be active in the transfer window and have been linked with a talented young winger Sign up to our Football newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Rangers have joined the race to sign highly-rated Wolfsberger AC winger Thierno Ballo, according to reports in Germany. Earlier this morning, a new report from respected journalist Florian Plettenberg revealed that the Glasgow giants had been 'monitoring' the Austrian international in recent weeks, and are ready to rival Ajax and Mainz for the signature of the talented youngster this summer. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Thierno Ballo has been linked with a move to Rangers this summer. | Getty Images Ballo, 23, has spent the last three seasons with Austrian Bundesliga outfit Wolfsberger AC following his release by Chelsea, scoring 28 goals in 85 appearances after joining the club in the summer of 2022. A key player at the Lavanttal-Arena, he has featured predominately on the left-side of a front three, but is equally capable of playing in an attacking midfield role. A former Chelsea academy player, Ballo was described as a "prodigious talent" during his teenage years, and was hailed as one of the club's potential wonderkids, earning comparisons to both Jadon Sancho and Callum Hudson-Odoi, who had emerged from English Premier League academies at around the same time. Born in Ivory Coast with a Guinean mother, he initially held Ivorian citizenship before adopting Austrian citizenship. He has represented Austria at various youth international levels, but made his senior international bow last month in a 4-0 World Cup qualifying win over San Marino. Southampton's Samuel Edozie is a target for Rangers boss Russell Martin this summer. |Catching the eye of several huge European clubs after scoring a brace for Austria's under-17 team against England at the age of just 14, Ballo signed his first professional contract at Stamford Bridge in 2019 and progressed to their under-23 team, where he featured regularly before joining Austrian outfit Rapid Wien on a season-long loan during the 2021/22 season. However, he would struggle on loan in Vienna, playing just eight times before returning to Chelsea. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Ajax inquire in Austria about winger with Chelsea past
According to Sky Sports (via VoetbalPrimeur), Ajax are interested in Wolfsberger AC's Thierno Ballo. The 23-year-old left-winger is on track to take a step up this summer. The Amsterdam side aren't alone: Ballo is also being watched from Scotland and Germany. In their search for attacking reinforcements, Ajax have turned to Ballo, a wideman who recently made his debut for the Austrian national team. 'Ajax, Rangers, and Mainz are all keeping an eye on Ballo and have inquired about the 23-year-old winger from Wolfsberger AC,' reports Florian Plettenberg. Advertisement 'No decision has been made yet, because several teams are interested in him.' The Austrians expect bids for Ballo to come in this summer. 'Discussions are ongoing.' Although born in the Ivory Coast, Ballo holds Austrian nationality after being raised there. The striker has been part of the youth academies of LASK, Bayer Leverkusen, and Chelsea in recent years. The West London club loaned him to Rapid Wien in 2021, and eventually saw Ballo make a free transfer to Wolfsberger AC a year later. Wolfsberger finished the regular season fourth in the Austrian Bundesliga, with Ballo contributing 10 league goals and six assists in 31 matches. According to the one-cap international has a market value of approximately five million euros. Advertisement GBeNeFN | Max Bradfield
Scotsman
09-07-2025
- Sport
- Scotsman
Rangers 'monitor' 23 y/o international described as a "prodigious talent" as bid rejected for winger
Rangers are continuing to be active in the transfer window and have been linked with a talented young winger Sign up to our Football newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Rangers have joined the race to sign highly-rated Wolfsberger AC winger Thierno Ballo, according to reports in Germany. Earlier this morning, a new report from respected journalist Florian Plettenberg revealed that the Glasgow giants had been 'monitoring' the Austrian international in recent weeks, and are ready to rival Ajax and Mainz for the signature of the talented youngster this summer. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Thierno Ballo has been linked with a move to Rangers this summer. | Getty Images Ballo, 23, has spent the last three seasons with Austrian Bundesliga outfit Wolfsberger AC following his release by Chelsea, scoring 28 goals in 85 appearances after joining the club in the summer of 2022. A key player at the Lavanttal-Arena, he has featured predominately on the left-side of a front three, but is equally capable of playing in an attacking midfield role. A former Chelsea academy player, Ballo was described as a "prodigious talent" during his teenage years, and was hailed as one of the club's potential wonderkids, earning comparisons to both Jadon Sancho and Callum Hudson-Odoi, who had emerged from English Premier League academies at around the same time. Born in Ivory Coast with a Guinean mother, he initially held Ivorian citizenship before adopting Austrian citizenship. He has represented Austria at various youth international levels, but made his senior international bow last month in a 4-0 World Cup qualifying win over San Marino. Southampton's Samuel Edozie is a target for Rangers boss Russell Martin this summer. |Catching the eye of several huge European clubs after scoring a brace for Austria's under-17 team against England at the age of just 14, Ballo signed his first professional contract at Stamford Bridge in 2019 and progressed to their under-23 team, where he featured regularly before joining Austrian outfit Rapid Wien on a season-long loan during the 2021/22 season. However, he would struggle on loan in Vienna, playing just eight times before returning to Chelsea. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad
Scottish Sun
09-07-2025
- Sport
- Scottish Sun
Rangers ‘make enquiry for ex-Chelsea wonderkid' whose move to England sparked controversy as Ajax rival signing bid
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) RANGERS are reportedly monitoring a former Chelsea wonderkid with the busy spell of Ibrox transfer business set to continue. But they could face some fierce competition with Dutch giants Ajax among the other clubs credited with an interest. 4 Thierno Ballo has made his Austria debut Credit: Getty 4 He starred for Chelsea's youth team Credit: Getty 4 He's found great form since joining Wolfsberger AC Credit: Getty Things have picked up on the transfer front at Rangers over the past week with Russell Martin's squad now bolstered with five new signings ahead of the new season. Wolves defender Nasser Djiga looks set to be the next player to join Martin's Light Blues rebuild with former England star Conor Coady also a target. While the Gers have strengthened a number of key areas, they're still on the hunt for attacking reinforcements. The Light Blues, in particular, need to add players in the wide areas. We told you last night how Rangers were closing-in on a deal to sign winger Djeidi Gassama from Sheffield Wednesday. SunSport also exclusively revealed the Gers' interest in Crystal Palace star Jesurun Rak-Sakyi over the weekend while the Light Blues have also reportedly rekindled their interest in Southampton's Samuel Edozie. Now, there's a new name in the frame. Sky Sports Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg claims Rangers are one of the clubs monitoring Thierno Ballo. Ballo is a 23-year old winger who plays for Austrian Bundesliga club Wolfsberger AC. The report also credits Ajax and German Bundesliga side Mainz with an interest and says all three clubs named have 'made enquiries' about the player. Plettenberg says there are more teams interest in him too and that he is expected to leave his current club this summer. Born in the Ivory Coast, Ballo moved to Austria during his childhood. Seen as a huge talent as a youngster, he joined the Bayer Leverkusen academy in 2013 . In 2018, the then-16 year old was snapped-up by Premier League giants Chelsea. His move to the English giants proved a controversial one, however. It was one of several transfer of young players to the club investigated by Fifa, with Chelsea eventually slapped with a transfer ban. They were found to have broken the rules after allegedly agreeing to sign Ballo when he was just 14 years old before moving him to another club - Viktoria Koln - until he was old enough to officially be signed two years later. Fifa regulations forbid European clubs from signing players or offering them any incentives until they are in the year in which they turn 16 years old. 4 At the time, he was seen as one of the top prospects in European football. Ballo was the top scorer in his debut season for Chelsea's under-18 side and was fast-tracked into the under-23 setup. He signed a professional contract with the Stamford Bridge outfit in 2019 but wouldn't ever feature for the first team. He joined Rapid Vienna on loan in August 2021 but that deal was terminated the following January after just 13 appearances. Ballo was released by Chelsea in July 2022 and he joined Wolfsberger. He has gone on to become a top star in the Austrian top division and has scored 28 goals in 85 league appearances during his three seasons with his current club. The winger has scored 13 goals in all competitions in each of his last two seasons. Ballo's form led to an international call-up and he made his senior Austria debut against San Marino in a World Cup qualifier last month. He'd been capped previously by Austria all the way from under-15 level through to the under-21 side. Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page
