FORMER Rangers and Scotland starlet Dapo Mebude has been rushed to hospital for emergency surgery after being involved in a horror car crash.
Concerning reports coming out of Belgium say the 22-year old suffered 'life-threatening injuries' after the incident on Sunday morning.
He underwent "successful surgery" on Sunday afternoon after being taken to hospital in a 'critical' condition.
Mebude joined the Rangers academy aged 11 and broke into the first team under Steven Gerrard.
He made his debut in May 2019 as a 17-year old, coming on as a substitute in the Premiership against Kilmarnock.
During his time at Ibrox, he also had a spell on loan at Queen of the South where he got his first regular taste of first team football.
Born in London, Mebude has been capped at youth level by Scotland all the way up to the under-21s.
He left Rangers in the summer of 2021 and was quickly snapped up by Watford, going on to spend time on loan back in hometown London with AFC Wimbledon.
Last summer, Mebude moved to Belgium with KV Oostende in the top flight where he's been featuring in the first team this season.
But this afternoon the striker went under the knife for emergency treatment and his club updated worried fans.
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They said: "Dapo Mebude underwent successful surgery after his accident.
"Tomorrow we will get more information about his situation. We thank the medical staff of AZ Brugge for the good care.
"We think of Dapo and his family and wish them much strength and recovery."
Mebude is said to have crashed his car into a tree this morning, and was taken to hospital in a very serious condition.
Belgian outlet GVA say his Mercedes vehicle left the road and collided with the tree and subsequently had to be freed by the fire brigade.
They quote Belgian police as saying his condition is "critical" and that he was "urgently operated on."
No other vehicles were involved in the horror crash.
The local prosecutors office is quoted as saying: “It is not clear how the accident could have happened.
“The public prosecutor's office has appointed a traffic expert to investigate the precise circumstances of the accident.”
Oostende's players were on their way to Knokke where they were due to play a friendly match.
Several of Mebude's teammates are understood to have witnessed the crash and the match was understandably cancelled.
In a statement posted online, Oostende said: "The practice match between Knokke and KVO was cancelled due to a car accident by player Dapo Mebude.
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"Our thoughts are with Dapo and his family."
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