Sam Lammers really doesn’t want to stop picking up that lucrative wage packet at Rangers, does he?
Rangers have been clear that they will need to sell to buy this summer as Philippe Clement aims a loaded barb in the direction of the Ibrox board.
But since those comments last week there’s been scant movement in or out of the club with the Premiership kick-off against Hearts looming large on August 3rd.
Rangers fans are nervous – and not without reason – as we tick closer to another season undercooked, overstaffed and underprepared.
The club also aren’t helped by the exorbitant wage demands of Sam Lammers preventing Rangers recouping a fee and moving on one of last summer’s marquee signings.
Lammers rejects fourth Dutch club
When Rangers signed Sam Lammers on a reported £3.5m transfer deal last summer, the move turned heads.
It had not happened for the Atalanta forward in Italy and after a series of unsuccessful loan moves, Rangers quite remarkably stumped up for the now 27-year-old Dutchman’s services.
Michael Beale maybe thought he was the man to resurrect Lammers’ career but the fragile forward struggled to cope with the intensity of life at Rangers.
A loan stint with FC Utrecht followed in the second half of the season and Sam Lammers thrived on his return to the Eredivisie, scoring 11 goals in Holland.
But it appears the striker – who is currently turning out for the Rangers B Team – has no interest in moving back to the Netherlands. At least for the money on offer there.
The striker is on a whopping £25k per week contract at Ibrox with Lammers snubbing pay cuts at FC Utrecht, AZ Alkmaar and FC Twente already this season.
Now, you can throw NEC Nijmegen into the mix with the Dutch club’s manager admitting that wages have prevented the club making a move for the Rangers forward.
“I would really like to have Sam there, but I don’t think he will come to NEC,” said manager Rogier Meijer, as quoted by De Gelderlander. “We spoke to him, but he has made a different choice.”
Rangers lumbered with expensive striker
So where does that leave Rangers?
It’s clear Sam Lammers has technical ability but the striker appears so timid in the face of pressure that when things go slightly negatively they just perpetually snowball.
It gives a clue as to why Lammers has only ever had genuine success in the Netherlands and it’s telling the striker has dug his heels in this summer rather than try to win his place at Rangers or take a pay cut to play elsewhere.
Ok, so we’re not blaming Lammers for being handed a bumper contract from Rangers – the blame lies squarely with a board who love handing out ridiculous contracts to average players – but the situation needs amended for everyone’s sake.
Sam Lammers could wind up costing Rangers around £7.5m if the striker stays and runs down his contract, a genuinely devastating notion for the club.
It doesn’t appear that interest from elsewhere is too forthcoming either, with so far only Dutch clubs willing to meet Rangers’ £2.5m asking price but unwilling to match Sam’s wages.
Philippe Clement – patiently waiting on the cogs to turn so Rangers can get some much-needed business completed – would be tearing his hair out if only he had any.
