Rangers’ summer £45M blockbuster
In the past few days Rangers’ rumour mill has gone to overdrive. We at Ibrox Noise took a few steps back of late to take some time off the site, but that didn’t stop the world from turning in Govan and we had to particularly note the numbers being banded about at the moment over potential sales.
To begin with, captain James Tavernier is being touted out for a big-money move to Premier League new boys Aston Villa. Obviously West Brom failed miserably with a £3.5M bid for the former Wigan man’s signature a year or so ago, and given the season and stats he has in his CV now over the past 12 months, his value has at least doubled. Probably a lot more. Rangers, genuinely, would seek at least £10M for Tavernier, especially from a club who just received a whopping £170M payday.
Then we have the Alfredo Morelos story. We’re not so sure about this one – word has it that it’s a load of hot air, leaked out by Ashley to link attractive shiny names to Newcastle in order to make the club more attractive and lucrative in light of this in-process and potential sale to the Arab rich boys. The numbers alleged hit around £20M that manager Rafa Benitez would be willing to offer for the Colombia international, and if there was even an iota of truth in this story we’d not just bite your arm off but take your head by accident too.
Then there’s Borna Barisic. The Croatian flop seems to be accepting his days at Ibrox are numbered, and while pundits big him up for a pricy sale, those pundits seem to be Celtic-minded and talking to speculation sites. Nevertheless, we’ve previously advocated a big sale for a Croat international at £20M given his global stock, and while we’d obviously love those numbers, we’d be happy with any kind of profit for this disaster of a signing. It’s more likely the club will hold out for £5M.
Next up Kyle Lafferty – Cypriot mob Limassol seem to want him – unknown if this would be mutual contract or a sale, but he’s finished at Rangers. Pity he never actually started in the first place. If it was to be a sale, Rangers would probably hope for a nice seven-figure tally. He’s hardly old and he’s fairly well known on continental Europe having been a regular international for NI plus plying his trade in Switzerland, Turkey and Italy. So he’s definitely one to make a few quid on.
Then we have Eros Grezda. The Albanian has been miserable at Ibrox – another feeble Croat league shiny name, one good match aside he’s been utterly horrible. A dreadful waste of £2M and he’s having showdown talks next week with Stevie G – if the manager can just figure out who’d take him for a reasonable profit we think he’s one we’ll happily dump. We’d even be happy breaking even on this guy.
Next we have Ryan Kent – he’s gone back to Liverpool now and the loan ain’t happening best we know. If Rangers want him, we’re going to have to match or beat Villa’s alleged bid of £12M, but unlike them we don’t have EPL to lure him with. We are, however, a much bigger club. Maybe that would sway him. But even then, even if we did/do have the cash, £12M is a lot for a Scottish club to spend on one player.
Last but not least, despite his return to fitness, Graham Dorrans is not in Steven Gerrard’s plans and he will either be released on mutual consent or a miracle will be achieved in finding a buyer. It’s been a disaster of a signing, one of the worst in Rangers’ history given the hype and the price, and despite his high talent and our high rating of him on Ibrox Noise, we can’t see him ever being part of the club again.
So, when we look at the numbers, if all of these were to be sold, Rangers could well be looking at a massive injection of cash in the region of £35M+ to use on players going forward.
On top of the base £10M our board seems to sanction as of right every summer, Rangers could be looking at a solid £45M to rebuild portions of the squad that needs work. Obviously it’s a LOT of ‘if’ and some may see it as fantasy and pie in the sky. Maybe it is.
But those numbers ARE money that can take the fight to Celtic.