There has always been a hidden Rangers tax whenever players from other Scottish clubs have been a transfer target.
Go back to Duncan Ferguson, Jim McLean was adamant that he wasn’t selling to Rangers and continuously tried to punt Britain’s hottest young striker down south.
A British record transfer fee later and he was presented at Ibrox.
Not much has changed since and, with the news that Max Johnston could be heading to Torino, it is only going to get harder and harder for Michael Beale to shop local.
Not only do teams in Italy and England have deeper pockets, but their change in tact has shown that Rangers are no longer seen as a stepping stone to a higher level.
Aaron Hickey, Josh Doig and Lewis Ferguson have all shown that Scottish players are now valued and that there is a demand for them, sadly, the national team manager would still rather play his favourites from his Kilmarnock days than those playing in Serie A.
What Rangers need to do to beat elite competition to the best talent
What this means for Rangers is that a transfer for a player like Max Johnston, if we wanted him, would now be out of our price range if he wasn’t out of contract.
Also, because he has an offer from a better league, why would he join Rangers to sit on the bench behind the captain?
Exactly the same thought process for Hickey and Doig.
Their fees were affordable but they would have had to bide their time for first team minutes or move to Serie A and play – not much of a decision really.
Then, as with Lewis Ferguson, a player who in the past would have only cost £1m or £2m is now £3m+ with add-ons.
Scottish clubs have finally realised that they don’t need to sell themselves short and are using the fees for Kieran Tierney and Nathan Patterson as a bench mark for their own players.
Rangers now, for home grown talent, either need to develop their own and hope that they aren’t cherry picked like Rory Wilson and Dire Mebude or scout the SPFL’s Under-18s before they become established in first teams.
Scottish football has changed and Rangers need to adapt.
