Rangers have taken advantage of cross-border compensation rules to pick up some of English football’s brightest talents in recent seasons.
Whilst tribunals have proven costly for English clubs mopping up young talent from rival academies in recent seasons, Rangers can pick up cross-border bargains with English rules not applicable in Scotland.
Peterborough chairman Barry Fry has talked down Kwame Poku moving to Rangers, a move which would devastate the Posh’s hopes of recouping a sizeable fee.
But whilst clubs certainly don’t like it, the Ibrox club are hoping to convince one England youth international that his future lies up north.
Rangers linked to Crystal Palace youngster Jesse Derry
Pete O’Rourke claims that Rangers and Old Firm rivals Celtic are both in the hunt for 17-year-old Crystal Palace sensation Jesse Derry.
O’Rourke took to social media platform X to claim that the Old Firm duo have ‘joined the race’ to sign the winger ahead of a transfer out of Palace this summer.
Jesse, who is the son of former Palace hero Shaun Derry, is out of contract this summer with the Athletic previously reporting the right-winger will leave Selhurst Park at the end of the season.
Palace are expecting ‘significant compensation‘ from any deal after Derry rejected the London club’s offer of a first ever professional contract.
But both Rangers and Celtic would be able to circumvent these regulations due to compensation rules not applying cross border.
Rangers know £30m value of cross-border deals
Rangers have benefitted from cross-border compensation rules in the past to pick up emerging talents from top English academies.
It’s proven a profitable transfer strategy, with Calvin Bassey joining Rangers from Leicester City’s academy for a knockdown fee before going on to bank the club a player trading fortune.
Rangers paid somewhere in the region of £200k to bring the defender north before going on to bank a record £19.6m from Bassey’s sale to Ajax.
Joe Aribo is another example, with Rangers picking the midfielder up for around £300k before striking a £10m deal with Southampton to sell Aribo in 2022.
Zak Lovelace moved back to Millwall in January but the England youth international is another who falls into this category.
Whilst Rangers have avoided paying big fees for these players south of the border, up north the Gers have fallen victim to similar compensation rules in Scotland.
After a much-publicised dispute, a tribunal ruled Rangers had to pay Aberdeen £640k in compensation after signing Connor Barron last summer.
Rangers are eager to avoid a repeat with Lyall Cameron, who will move to Ibrox from Dundee come the end of the season.
