Rangers Get £20m Celtic Transfer Warning Shot As Player Trading “Priority” Tested

 

As Celtic reject a bid for Matt O’Riley from Atletico Madrid, the fees attached to the transfer reports prove why Rangers need to start getting player trading right.

Parkhead boss Brendan Rodgers has claimed the 23-year-old Denmark international is going nowhere amid a productive season where O’Riley has scored 10 goals and laid on 12 assists.

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But whilst Celtic are unwilling to budge amid reports of a loan bid with a compulsory £20m option attached, it’s clear the Parkhead side will bank big on the midfielder before long.

It’s the latest warning for Rangers as the Ibrox side continue to toil behind their rivals in the transfer stakes with big changes needed if the club are to close the financial gap with Celtic.

Rangers need “systemic” player trading success

Rangers chairman John Bennett reiterated the need for improved player trading as part of the club’s latest financial accounts.

Whilst Bennett admitted that the player trading market can be “volatile”, the Rangers chairman claimed the club must “replace sporadic ‘wins’ with systematic success”.

Bennett branded player trading a “priority” for the current Board, whilst Rangers manager Philippe Clement has also recently touched on his need to develop players for future sale in Glasgow.

Player trading has been described as the “fourth pillar” the Ibrox club’s business model, with season ticket sales, commercial revenue and European football the other three.

The Gers have had some wins in this department, Nathan Patterson (£16m to Everton), Joe Aribo (£10m to Southampton), and Calvin Bassey (£23m to Ajax) banked the club substantial profit despite Patterson coming through at the Academy and the other two costing a combined £550k.

Now however that model appears to have screeched to a halt with few players in the current squad fitting the profile of young, hungry, progressive talents who can eventually make you a fortune.

With all this in mind the transfer of midfielder Mohamed Diomande – the young Ivorian talent said to be on the verge of a £4.5m switch – is undoubtedly a step in the right direction.

Matt O’Riley the tip of the Celtic transfer iceberg

Celtic meanwhile are now sitting on an inevitable £20m+ sale, with Matt O’Riley contracted to the club for four years and surely now set for a summer exit.

This follows on from years of big money business at Parkhead, Portuguese winger Jota banking the club a reported £25m in the summer.

You can add Moussa Dembele (£20m to Lyon), Kieran Tierney (£25m to Arsenal), and Odsonne Edouard (£14m to Crystal Palace) to that list in recent seasons.

Add to that the deals for Kristoffer Ajer, Victor Wanyama, Fraser Forster, Virgil van Dijk and Jeremie Frimpong and suddenly you start seeing the kind of “systemic success” John Bennett wants at Rangers.

Granted, Celtic have had years on us given the financial collapse of 2012 but Rangers have been too risk averse in the transfer market when it comes to taking these kind of gambles with their squad.

Humming and hawing over Joey Veerman – who could now be set to bank PSV a fortune – stands out as a prime example.

The Parkhead side have had their fair share of howlers in the same period – and continue to do so – but their Ibrox counterparts have shied away from really rolling the dice.

Everything is about to change and Rangers have just been sent a Matt O’Riley warning shot across their player trading bow.

With an additional £30m on the line for Champions League qualification next season, Rangers need to start getting things right in this department if they stand any chance of balancing the scales in Glasgow.