Abstract We show that if w is a multilinear commutator word and G a finite group in which every metanilpotent subgroup generated by w -values is of rank at most r , then the rank of the verbal subgroup $w(G)$ is bounded in terms of r and w only. In the case where G is soluble, we obtain a better result: if G is a finite soluble group in which every nilpotent subgroup generated by w -values is of rank at most r , then the rank of $w(G)$ is at most $r+1$ .