Rangers will pay £600k for the transfer of Connor Barron from Aberdeen after a tribunal finalised the details of his switch to Ibrox.
Connor Barron, 22, had joined Rangers at the end of his Aberdeen contract in the summer amid interest from the English Championship and Serie A.
The news comes as a serious blow to Scottish Premiership rivals Aberdeen, CEO Alan Burrows having gone public with the club’s tribunal fight against Rangers.
In the end, Rangers have been ordered to pay £75k more than the development fee Aberdeen would’ve been due had Barron opted to move out of the country.
Connor Barron Rangers fee decided
The new has been broken by Chris Jack and the Rangers Review with the SFA tribunal’s decision final.
Rangers will now pay the six-figure fee to Aberdeen and Connor Barron will be free to develop at Ibrox over a four-year contract.
Connor Barron had initially made a very promising start to his Rangers career, earning a call-up to three of Steve Clarke’s Scotland squads.
There are still clear improvements to be made in Barron’s game but the player’s development at Rangers and success since was not considered by the SFA tribunal.
The tribunal’s purpose is to establish Connor Barron’s value at the time of transfer with Aberdeen set to feel the sting of losing one of their top talents for a cut-price fee.
Aberdeen CEO fights doomed Rangers battle
Aberdeen chief Alan Burrows had criticised the SFA tribunal process earlier in December, an indication perhaps that negotiations weren’t going as planned at Pittodrie.
”This may sound like a cop-out, but the rules of the SPFL prevent us from speaking too much about it,” said Burrows said.
“”But what I can tell you is that the process has been extremely elongated and has taken significant time for both management and staff.
“I am happy to go on record saying that the SPFL should have a much more succinct system to deliver this sort of thing.
“It should not take six, seven months to try and deliver that. We hope to have a conclusion on that fairly soon.
“I certainly agree that it gone on for too long and should act as a catalyst for the league to do it better.”
Burrows guaranteed Rangers a tribunal fight back in June and if anyone is to blame for the elongated process, it’s probably the Aberdeen exec.
“What happens in these situations is that both clubs are effectively mandated to find a solution before some sort of arbitrary body like the SPFL would step in and set that value,” said Burrows.
“What happens is both clubs have to make counter proposals to each other and if they can’t agree in a middle point it then goes to the SPFL.
“That’s the part of the process that’s ongoing at the minute, if that can’t be agreed and there isn’t an agreement between the two clubs then we’re fully prepared to go to tribunal.”
Burrows then added: “It’s our job to make sure we get the best value for any player that leaves and we’ll try and do that again with Connor Barron.
“In all walks of life you would rather avoid situations where you have to go through independent tribunals.
“But if we do have to, then we will, and from that point of view we’ve had experience with these tribunals before (when Lewis Ferguson arrived from Hamilton Academical).”
Had the Dons simply accepted that Connor Barron has moved to Rangers – as is his personal right – then they wouldn’t have had months of politicking and court battles.
Now, Rangers can switch their attentions to developing Connor Barron with the saga coming to an end and the midfielder setting his sights on a Scotland call-up.
