The problem with £20M…

7
The problem with £20M…


So, after a bit of reader outrage and ridicule over yesterday’s Borna Barisic assertions, that he could now suddenly be worth anywhere beyond £10-£20M, we couldn’t help but wonder quite why Rangers fans were so keen to kick dirt over the idea a player could be worth big money.

Indeed, one of the most telling derisions of the concept was that an SPL player just doesn’t fetch that. It’s Scotland after all. The second was that he’s rubbish.

It’s time to tear these both to shreds – so, if you don’t think there’s any possibility Barisic could be worth that money, we’d recommend you click the close button before you get unnecessarily upset.

Right, for those keen to listen to our reasoning, it’s simple.

First of all, let’s look at the last SPL player to go for £20M, Moussa Dembele. Yes, indeed, SPL players DO go for that much. They regularly go for near £10M (Celtic have sold many at this, as have we) and even Aberdeen reportedly rejected an £8M bid for Scott McKenna.

So going for more than that is becoming less and less uncommon anyway – the transfer market is absurd and the rules of sanity don’t apply to it any longer – which is a major reason many readers struggle to reconcile the idea of big transfer fees for our most valuable assets. It seems ridiculous, so it must be, right?

Next we have to look at Barisic’s CV – while he hasn’t sparkled in Scotland, and believe us, we are well aware of this, he has for his country. Indeed, it was amusing to hear zero complaints before his performance on Thursday when we posited the idea then that a good display from him against Azerbaijan would hike his value. Not one objection to that idea.

When he put in two scintillating crosses, managed an interception or two, oh, and scored a goal, it hiked that value. £2M became a memory – THAT is how fickle values are now.

Now, we hark back to the Dembele example – most Rangers fans were gutted when Celtic ‘got that much’ for Dembele – rather than suggesting he wasn’t worth it, fans were more annoyed they now had big funds. Now, Dembele HAD done it for Celtic, but he hadn’t even been called up for the NT, never been capped, far less scored. Barisic has does all three and is a regular for the side France beat in the world cup final. The world’s fourth ranked side. FOURTH.

And yet, despite this, the idea Barisic could be worth big money now is still absurd?

Ok, how about the fact all Croat regulars, like Barisic, are all £10M+? Every single member of that XI is a £10M+ player. Even half the bench. Except Barisic, because he just can’t be, right?

It’s true, he hasn’t shone for Rangers yet, but he has for Croatia, at a far higher level than the SPL, and he’s scored for them too.

He’s shown he has the quality in the locker – even if it’s been sparse in Scotland.

This is not us saying we’ve changed our mind on him – it’s us calling the transfer market for what it is and suggesting there’s something Rangers can take advantage of.

If you’re still not convinced a Croatian international isn’t worth the megamillions we suggest, just because he’s one of our players (Everton paid £10M for 4-cap 21-year old midfielder Vlasic in 2017) then we guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree with you.

No posts to display

7 COMMENTS

  1. I agree with you. There are teams out there that will want him. Teams that play in football leagues, instead of the kicking competition that exists in Scotland where an achilles is a legitimate target. I can see why a move could interest him. And we could use the money on players who are more robust (Happy to take and give a kicking)
    Not really the best way forward for Scotland, won't help our club or national teams. But SFA must be ok with it, they have no issue with what Broadfoot did
    Has anybody got an opinion from Clarke yet? Or is he still busy redefining "sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me"

  2. I have no doubts that if that was Morelos raking his studs down the cowards ankle he would have got a red card the reason given for no action was insufficient evidence? as scots whauhae says Clarke was full of yes I have seen the footage implying that Morelos was the culprit not a word since from him as for Broadfoot we should delete everything from his time with us also he did the same trick to Ryan Jack and got him sent off

  3. We'll take that, when we sell the piss-taker. Works hard for his national team, but does NADA for Rangers. Get rid!!

  4. I can't disagree with IN comments on the absurdity of the transfer market but I'm willing to stick my neck out and say we will never get £20m for Barisic. I'm a fan of his but unless he has a big upswing in form at Ibrox then he won't even achieve a profit for us.

  5. Rob, I am inbetween, we may well not get £20 large, but if he continues to play well at international level we will make a healthy profit. Lots of people know that ball players can struggle in Scotland because of the enthusiasm/thuggery of the locals.

  6. I think you need to look at it from a footballing point of view. BB is a good player. In the international team he has class players all around him. With our team, he hasn't. The scottish game is in gutter level full of parking the bus. In BBs international games they don't, he is able to express himself because his international manager plays him that way because the fluency and pace of the Croation game. Our games have the fluency of a grid locked traffic jammed motorway.
    Alves was the same, he was always surrounded by class players before and after Rangers, but I've always maintained he was class.
    Stop looking at BB, and start looking at our game in general. Where other teams have evolved since the 70s, we stood still and continue playing the "big punt" up the park. We need to raise the SFA from the ground and bring in experts to start our game at youth level and work our way up. Neil Doncaster and his Celtic SFA pals have ruined our game and it will never improve unless they go so we can re-group so that our players can catch up with the rest of the world on how the game should be played.
    With Rangers, BB will never be worth 20m. In any other team outwith Scotland, he would be!

Comments are closed.