For a club like Rangers, signing players is only half of the battle when it comes to recruitment and squad planning.
Arguably even more important, in less well-heeled countries where clubs must think sustainably rather than rely upon a the depth of their sugar daddy’s pockets, is that Rangers sell, and sell well.
This, it’s fair to say, has been a problem in recent years.
Only twice since returning to the Premiership in 2016 have Rangers brought in a fee in excess of £10 million for a player. Calvin Bassey following his switch to Ajax, and Nathan Patterson’s move to Everton.
In contrast, Old Firm rivals Celtic have done that seven times.
Of course, The Hoops have tended to enjoy the luxury of more talented footballers over the last decade but Celtic’s success should not shield Rangers from blame.
Rangers must get far better at selling their star players
Ryan Kent, Alfredo Morelos, Filip Helander, Glen Kamara and Borna Barisic were all linked with Premier League clubs at one point or another.
All could have earned Rangers a considerable sum, too, had the 2021 Premiership champions struck while the iron was hot. Instead, they dallied, waited, kicked the can further and further down the road, and eventually all but one of that quintet left Ibrox on a free transfer.
Ryan Jack, John Lundstram and Scott Arfield also saw their contracts run down before departing for nothing.
In a period where Celtic successfully reinvested the substantial fees earned by selling Matt O’Riley, Jota, Ousmane Dembele, Odsonne Edouard and more – ensuring that quality would replace quality – Rangers’ tossed away countless millions while slipping further and further away from their 2021 title-winning peak.
They say you should always look to build from a position of existing strength. Instead, Rangers let the foundations decay and their assets depreciate in value.
The good news, at least, is that lessons appear to have been learned.
Patrick Stewart’s comments should be music to Ibrox ears
Chief executive Patrick Stewart conducted another in-depth interview with the club’s in-house media channels this week.
And he highlighted not only the importance of signing better – hailing the work of technical director Nils Koppen – but also learning how, and when, to cash in.
“Nils, as technical director, is responsible for squad planning. So, making sure that our first team squad for men’s and women’s teams are in the right place,” Stewart explains.
“And that means that he’s looking at player recruitment, [with a] particular focus on player recruitment from all the age groups through making sure that we’ve got a good pipeline coming in from the academy into the first team. But also, where we don’t have that pipeline, [Koppen must ensure] we are recruiting externally.
“Critically, also making sure that we’re selling players at the right time because that’s critical to the player trading model.”
If Rangers had picked up, say, £20 million apiece for Kent and Morelos, plus a further £15 million for Kamara, Barisic and Helander when they were at the pinnacle of their powers, that would have freed up in excess of £60 million to rebuild a squad which declined pretty rapidly in the aftermath of that title triumph.
Instead, they got just £5.5 million via the sale of Kamara to Leeds United.
With Koppen making Ibrox home once again to a host of up-and-comers boasting considerable re-sale potential – see Jefte, Connor Barron, Mohamed Diomande and particularly Hamza Igamane – there has never been a better time to right the wrongs of the recent past.
