Barcelona have just spent £26m (€31m) on a winger currently playing for Rangers’ Europa League opponents Braga – before loaning him back to the Portuguese club.
The Camp Nou club say they’ve agreed a deal to sign 20-year-old winger Francisco Trincao with the player joining the Catalan giants in July.
Such is the esteem Barca hold the youngster in they have handed him a five-year contract with a €500m release clause.
This is further evidence of the challenge Rangers face when they go up against the easily-underestimated Portuguese outfit.
Supporters – faced with the alternative options of Ajax, Inter Milan or even Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal – were quite rightly glad to draw the Primeira Liga side.
But despite stumbling domestic form under former manager Ricardo Sa Pinto, the now axed manager guided the club to an unbeaten Europa League group stage.
Finishing top of a group containing Wolves, Besiktas and Slovan Bratislava, Braga earned four wins and two draws to set up the tie with Rangers.
New manager Ruben Amorim has since turned the tide domestically for the side, defeating Porto in the domestic league before repeating the feat to win the country’s League Cup.
Whilst somewhat of an unknown quantity to many, the fact that Barcelona have splashed out and offered such a lucrative contract to one of their players shows the quality in their squad.
Make no mistake, Rangers will have to be at their best to secure progress against this technically gifted outfit.
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