Rangers move for Mohamed Diomande has come out of nowhere with the young Ivorian close to being announced as Philippe Clement’s second signing.
The Gers boss is keen to add quality to his squad and, despite a Storm Isha enforced delay, the 22-year old should soon be standing at Ibrox with the scarf above his head.
With quality comes a price-tag though and what Rangers are paying for Mohamed Diomande has been revealed by the journalist who first broke news of the transfer, Farzam Abolhosseini.
Rangers having to dig deep for Mohamed Diomande
Football has change as megabucks TV deals filter down to second tier leagues.
Scotland hasn’t quite caught on but record deals at clubs like Aberdeen and Hibs to join recent big money transfers for Rangers and Celtic shows that we are on the right track.
It’s not just the record deals that have gone up though.
Across Europe, there is more awareness of what a player is worth.
Picking up the next wonder kid from eastern Europe for a pittance is no long possible.
The fees spent on Rangers-linked Petar Ratkov and Nikola Krstovic in the summer prove that valuations are on the rise and that, if we don’t pay it, someone else will.
On this occasion, it looks like we are the ones digging deep though, with Abolhosseini posting on X just how highly Rangers rate Mohamed Diomande:
“Rangers FC pay 5.3 million euros for Mohamed Diomande.
“That is 40 million kroner. FC Nordsjælland will wave goodbye to him very soon, as the medical check and signature are being arranged.
“Other clubs have also bid on the profile, but the Scots get him.”
This equates to roughly £4.5m, which is a lot of money for us to spend in an area where we already have plenty of depth – when they are all fit.
If Philippe Clement is to get the squad he wants and player trading model that he wants, this is the sort of investment that needs to be made.
Diomande has over 100 games at a similar level to the SPFL, if that isn’t enough to judge potential and ability, then we are as well packing up the recruitment offices and just letting the manager do what he wants.
That money would buy a very good striker or winger though, if it was spent wisely that is.
