A journalist has slammed a “ridiculous” update concerning Rangers, describing some of their business as “absolutely astonishing” on a financial level.
Rangers sell key players
It has been all change at Ibrox in recent times, with Philippe Clement replacing Michael Beale as manager, and already making his presence felt. In terms of signings, Rangers did some important summer transfer business, with Danilo arriving at Ibrox from Feyenoord and Cyriel Dessers coming in from Cremonese, among other new faces who made the move to the Scottish Premiership giants.
There have also been key Gers players who have headed out of the Ibrox exit door in recent transfer windows, however, with Calvin Bassey joining Fulham and Joe Aribo moving to Southampton, earning the club a significant amount of money in the process. Despite this, Rangers’ newly-released accounts suggest that the club still haven’t managed to turn over a huge profit, though, which may raise alarms.
Journalist slams Rangers
Speaking to PLZ Soccer [via Ibrox News], journalist David McCarthy slammed Rangers for only making £252,000 in profit when including the sales of the likes of Bassey and Aribo.
“It’s absolutely astonishing Peter that in these figures they’re taking into account the money they got for Bassey and Aribo and Champions League football, and they still made a loss.
“The £252K profit, you can forget that. They made a loss of £4.1m. And the fact is that they sold these players for the best part of £30m and they still made a loss of £4.1m. The recruitment has been absolutely ridiculous and guys like Dessers and Lammers are at an age as well that you can’t sell them on.”
McCarthy does have a point in his criticism, when you consider that Rangers received a club-record fee of £20.1m for Bassey from Fulham, and that Aribo is the ninth-most expensive sale in Ibrox history, heading to Saints for £6.2m.
It asks definite questions over how the club is being run, in terms of the quality of the recruitment and the wages being paid, with key figures such as Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos ultimately allowed to leave on free transfers in the summer after their contracts ran down.
As McCarthy alludes to, Dessers is now in his late 20s as a player, which immediately means that Rangers are unlikely to be able to sell him for good money further down the line, and if he doesn’t deliver hugely on the pitch, he could easily end up being considered a poor piece of business.
The hope is that Clement’s arrival, and the new addition of a new director of football, can herald a more successful era in the recruitment department, aiding Rangers’ financial in the process and allowing them to grow into Scottish football’s greatest force again in the coming years.
