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.