There is a lot of speculation at the moment from mostly the clickbait press about the price of Lewis Ferguson. The Bologna midfielder and Scotland star is of course subject to huge Rangers transfer interest at present. There are many, many quotes currently taking place regarding a mooted price for his transfer, and the curiosity at this present moment is the number being specified. Strangely, £17M seems to be the number that the clickbait press have come up with. Ibrox Noise sources can categorically state that that is false. Lewis Ferguson’s market value is considerably higher than £17M, and Bologna expect considerably more than £17M. False figure for Ferguson is clear.
Rangers can afford false figure but Scottish football cannot
This may or may not include the likes of Connor Barron as a makeweight or other sweeteners, but in terms of the full cost, £17M will not cut it. This is where Rangers’ problem lies with Ferguson. Rangers can afford £17M. Indeed, the club can afford £25M. But alas, the climate of Scottish football does not support that outlay on one player. It does not matter how wealthy Rangers or indeed Celtic are. No club in Scotland can justify that outlay. Not on a single player anyway.
The financing challenge
Rangers are well known to have spent somewhere between £30M and £40M in the last two windows. But that was on several players rather than one. Consequently, the simple fact is that Rangers will need to find a way to finance the deal that is clearly going to cost up to £25M. If Rangers believe that is a feasible target, then it might be possible to do it. But as we say, Scottish football does not allow it.
Bologna hold all the cards
Rangers will be able to go up to £15M at absolute tops in terms of a base fee. That in itself would then require the sweeteners and bonuses on top, including part player exchange and all kinds of clauses to make up the difference. That difference being £10M. Bologna will not accept less than that for what is essentially their star player.
Lewis Ferguson is open to the move. We will discuss that topic in itself. But for now, there is a huge impasse over the price, and Rangers will need to find a way to finance it. Because there is no chance that Bologna will let Lewis Ferguson go for £17M.
Where has false figure £17M come from?
We are not quite sure where the false figure for Ferguson comes from. We believe it is to do with conversion from euros to pounds, whereby €20M is around £17M. But €20M will not cut it for the Scotland international. Rangers will need to spend more, or at least find a way to make this manageable and logistically possible within our means. More as we get it.