£42m – That was the Rangers wage bill from this past season.
The question then is simple: with the highest wage bill in Scottish football, what value are we getting in return?
The answer, unfortunately, is very little.
To keep things fair, we didn’t really get back on a solid footing competitively until 19/20. In the following 5 years, however, one league title and two cups is the returm from a possible 15 trophies.
For some clubs that would be a success.
For this club, I’m afraid not.
One of the main reasons for this has been the continuous struggles with getting good value on both incomings and player sales during Ross Wilson and Michael Beale’s spells in charge of those areas.
Since winning that league title the biggest money signings to arrive at the club have been Matondo, Davies, Ridvan, Lammers, Dessers and Danilo – that amounts to transfer fees in the range of £23m.
Not to mention the wages for Lundstram, Dowell and Lawrence or the loan fees of Aaron Ramsey, Fabio Silva and Diallo.
There have been some successful signings in the free transfer or low fee departments which have helped things out, but largely the bigger money signings haven’t worked due to a mix of poor quality and injuries.
Rangers aren’t in a position where we can afford to spend big money and get it wrong time and again.
The player sales haven’t been much better, with the much needed exceptions of Bassey and Patterson who were sold for maximum value.
Otherwise, the last few seasons have seen players like Morelos, Kent, Kamara and Aribo leave the club for free or reduced fees due to allowing their contracts to run down.
Kent and Morelos alone had previous interest in the region of a combined £25m+, instead both left the club for nothing.
Lundstram, Barisic, Roofe, Jack and McLaughlin all now gone for free also.
As things stand: Tom Lawrence, Scott Wright, Alex Lowry and Robbie McCrorie have contracts that expire next summer. Then there’s Tavernier, Goldson, Souttar, Davies, Dowell, Matondo and King who expire the following summer.
That’s another 11 players, 8 of which have featured regularly, that are moving towards similar situations. It simply isn’t sustainable to buy players, pay the wages for years before ultimately losing them for free, while winning very little in the process.
This is the situation Nils Koppen now finds himself trying fix, another rebuild is required and finding significantly better value than those previously in his role is the only way it’s possible.
This summer will see a heavy reduction on the wage bill with the aforementioned players off the books and several other players who will be sold.
That will give Koppen a decent amount to search for better value. Upon his arrival, the club were clear on why he was the preferred choice to take over the position:
“There were good candidates who were really strong on the UK market, but didn’t really know the wider market. Then you take a big risk that the pool is too small to find the right targets. Nils was one of the best candidates by knowing the markets we need to aim for.”
With his first three signings now complete, you can see that approach in effect.
Diomande, a 22 year old Ivorian playing in Denmark.
Jefte, a 20 year old Brazilian playing in Cyprus.
Cortes, a 20 year old Colombian playing in France.
Now, different markets doesn’t automatically translate to better success.
It does, however, present a much more varied approach than just adding more and more players from the Championship.
Other reported targets of Chilean defender Thomas Galdames, Uruguayan midfielder Damian Garcia who starred in the Under-20 World Cup winning team and South African teenage winger Relebohile Mofokeng continue the trend of looking for players, 25 and under, with room to develop.
It’s a much needed change in approach as, quite simply, winning trophies and creating sellable assets within the playing squad are two of the only ways to create a sustainable model within Scottish football.
Unfortunately, they also happen to be two things Rangers haven’t been doing very well for a long time.
It’s a big summer at the club, as a ‘new cycle’ fully begins this coming season. We’ll be seeing a different approach to transfers, a very different playing squad and hopefully a different result come seasons end.
Until then, all eyes on Nils Koppen in what will hopefully be a very exciting summer window.
Four Lads Had A Dream 