Ross Wilson had his faults, however, he modernised Rangers recruitment team and the way in which our transfers were negotiated with Dire Mebude the latest example.
Loan to buy signings became more common as did making sure there were add-ons like sell on clauses for players who departed.
One such player is Dire Mebude who is set to leave Manchester City to sign for KVC Westerlo in Belgium’s Jupiler League.
Initially, it didn’t look like Rangers were going to be getting anything out of the move and with fellow Man City youth teammate Carlos Borges attracting a reported £14m bid from West Ham United, you would think that Mebude would also go for a big fee.
Unfortunately, despite the Four Lads Had a Dream blog revealing that a 15% clause means that Rangers will see some of the money being paid to Man City, his fee is only £1.65m as claimed by the Manchester Evening News.
Now, I’m not disappointed at the amount of money Rangers are getting, instead, that Dire Mebude isn’t coming back up the road.
Rangers miss out on Dire Mebude but clause softens the blow
Michael Beale needs home grown talent and he needs to freshen up the attack.
Scott Wright is being allowed to leave, Rabbi Matondo too with Fashion Sakala turning down a move to Saudi Arabia as well.
Had all three already been moved out, spending such a small sum on a Scottish player who could be classed as club trained would have made a lot of sense.
Especially one that is as talented as Dire Mebude.
By my maths, Rangers will gain almost £250,000 for the former Auchenhowie kid, add this to the £300,000 or so that Ross McCrorie earned us by moving to Bristol City and it’s easy to see how it all soon adds up.
That’s almost paid for Jose Cifuentes, now that’s how player trading should work.
