Rangers finances dictate how they operate in the transfer market with Nils Koppen having to shop smarter than all of his predecessors.
Patrick Stewart spoke about the signing players for the club, rather than on the whim of managers in a much-needed change of direction.
On a budget, Bosman signings and pre-contract agreements will always be attractive, but it looks like Rangers could miss out on a highly rated target who would be a key member of Philippe Clement’s squad.
Rangers in heavyweight chase to land Nicola Bertola
According to The Daily Mail, Koppen has had his eye on a cut-price swoop for Spezia centre-half Nicola Bertola, however, the technical director has been dealt an early blow in the race for the towering defender’s signature.
The report claims that Inter Milan are also considering Bertola and it would be an uphill battle to compete with the Serie A champions.
At 6ft 4inches tall, the Italy Under-21 international would be more than capable of coping with the demands of Scottish football, even if his statistics via Data MB suggest that he is more refined than that.
Why Bertola is the perfect example of Rangers’ new transfer strategy
Encouragingly, this is exactly the type of player that Rangers need to be targeting.
Currently playing in Serie B, Bertola would jump at the chance of playing regular European football and in front of 51,000 fans every other week at Ibrox.
He also ticks every box needed for a club trying to kick-start a player trading model. Moving on in-form Ben Davies, who was refereed to as a “brick wall” this week, on a permanent basis and then replacing him with Bertola is how it should be done.
Yes, he is young, but he has played in all of Italy’s top three divisions and has been a near ever present this season for Spezia.
Bertola is also out of contract in the summer which means that Rangers could afford a player who, under contract, would be out of their reach.
If Inter follow up their interest, the giant stopper would probably be sent out on loan to start with and this could be Rangers’ best chance of nicking an unlikely deal.
Even if they don’t, just being linked is enough to suggest that Rangers are on the right tracks when it comes to the type of player who will take the club forward.
