Rangers have moved at a serious pace in this summer’s transfer market with Michael Beale adding six names to the two that arrived in January.
With Jose Cifuentes expected to be next, the team that starts next season could be very different to the one that finished the last.
As yet though, other than the players whose contracts have expired, nobody has left Rangers, which is Michael Beale’s biggest task to date.
It’s easy to persuade players to come to Rangers
The history, Ibrox, the names who have starred in Light Blue before and our restored reputation in Europe – the 2022/23 Champions League campaign aside.
Attracting offers for players that we want to offload is a different matter though.
How big is the Rangers squad that Michael Beale has to trim?
At the current count, including Jose Cifuentes – I’m not superstitious – the squad currently stands at 37 senior personnel – 38 if you include Nnamdi Ofoborh.
It’s easy to forget the likes of Lewis Mayo, Cole MacKinnon, Josh McPake and Ben Williamson who were all on loan last season, the same applies for Kieran Wright and Jay Hogarth.
Several of the players are versatile, however, counting their strongest position only, this is how the squad currently looks.
Five senior goalkeepers, three right-backs, five centre-halves, two left-backs, nine central midfielders, five attacking midfielders, five wingers, four strikers.
It’s not just two or three that Michael Beale needs to move on.
Keeping a squad this big happy is impossible.
The decision that Rangers have to make is whether or not to accept lower offers for individuals to make more as a collective so that Michael Beale can reduce the wage bill.
The board also knows that the players who have been brought in haven’t broken the bank so there is room for negotiation and applying common sense.
What is the point of keeping players who won’t contribute for another season?
A player on £20,000 per week costs £1m in wages over the season on top of ancillary fees and bonuses, if Glen Kamara is valued at £4m but the only offer Rangers get is £3m, it should be an easy decision.
Not only would his gross value depreciate but he would still be collecting a wage if he stayed, a £2m drop in the bank balance over a season – give or take.
With Rangers pre-season training well under way, it’s now time for Michael Beale to clear up some space in the locker room, the new boys need somewhere to sit.
