For clubs outside Europe’s top-five leagues, Ibrox side Rangers being the prime example of this, good recruitment is the most important factor behind success.
Finding unknown players, often young, and bringing them in for a low fee, before providing them with a platform on which to shine, before selling them at a massive profit is the business model recipe for success. That said, it’s not an area Rangers have particularly thrived in of late.
On the flip side, the Gers’ fierce rivals Celtic have been the masters of this in recent times, yielding close to £140m in transfer fees for the following seven players in recent times: Matt O’Riley, Jota, Kieran Tierney, Moussa Dembélé, Odsonne Édouard, Kristoffer Ajer and Jeremie Frimpong.
So, if the Light Blues are going to be competitive in the future, both financially and on the park, they need to become more astute in the transfer market.
Here, we’re going to look back at some of the best signings, and sales, the Glaswegian giants have made since returning to the Premiership in 2016.
Steven Gerrard's best Rangers signings
Steven Gerrard will forever be a legend at Rangers, leading the club to an invincible title in 2020/21, thereby ending Celtic’s pursuit of that historic ten-in-a-row while, simultaneously, delivering the Gers’ first crown for a decade.
Since the Liverpool icon departed for Aston Villa in November 2021, none of Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Michael Beale nor Philippe Clement have been able to beat Celtic to the title, with many of Gerrard’s most trusted lieutenants having now departed.
So, who were Gerrard’s best signings?
Allan McGregor
227 (second spell only)
Free
Retired
Scott Arfield
233
Free
Free
Connor Goldson
309
£3m
£2.5m
Borna Barišić
236
£2.2m
Free
Glen Kamara
193
£50k
£5m
Joe Aribo
149
£300k
£6m
Ryan Kent
218
£7.5m
Free
Calvin Bassey
65
£230k
£20m
Ianis Hagi
106
£4.5m
N/A
Fashion Sakala
91
Free
£4m
John Lundstram
153
Free
Free
As outlined, many of Gerrard’s title winners played well over 200 times for the club, and that isn’t even including James Tavernier, Ryan Jack and Alfredo Morelos, who all preceded his appointment, but were undeniably also key figures.
These players also formed the bedrock of the team that reached the Europa League Final in 2022, a mere six months after Gerrard had jumped ship, and it’s one player who stared on the road to Seville that made the club the biggest transfer windfall.
Calvin Bassey: from youth prospect to Premier League star
When Calvin Bassey arrived at Rangers for a paltry compensation fee of £230k, he had never made a senior appearance and was very raw as a result.
During his first season, he made only 15 appearances, starting just six matches, in the squad to be Borna Barišić’s back-up at left-back, scoring his only goal for the club during a comfortable Scottish Cup victory away at Falkirk.
However, the following campaign, Bassey burst onto the scene, appearing in 50 of Rangers’ 66 fixtures, totalling 4,364 minutes, including starting 13 times in the Europa League, as the Light Blues made it all the way to the final, heartbreakingly beaten on penalties by Eintracht Frankfurt.
Market Movers
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Also becoming a Nigerian international during this season, Bassey found a home at centre-back, first thrust into the position due to injuries suffered by Filip Helander and Leon Balogun, but playing a pivotal role as the Light Blues dumped Borussia Dortmund, Crvena Zvezda, Braga and RB Leipzig out of Europe, concluding the campaign by hoisting aloft the Scottish Cup.
His performances must have turned some heads in Amsterdam because, in July 2022, Bassey joined Ajax for a mega £22m, making Rangers an enormous 9465% profit in just two years.
His time in the Netherlands was not the happiest, with Ajax finishing third in the Eredivisie and enduring defeat on penalties in the KNVB Beker Final, but the defender did make his Champions League debut, coincidentally coming against the club he’d just departed, leading to this wholesome clip that goes viral every so often.
After only a season with the Dutch giants, Bassey moved to Fulham for £19m, taking his game to an even greater level in West London, a firm fixture at centre-back both last season and this, starting all 15 Premier League fixtures during this campaign, prior to being suspended for last weekend’s draw at Anfield.
Bassey may only have spent two seasons at Rangers, making a mere 65 appearances, but the profit generated from his sale proved invaluable, while the enormous part he played during the run to Seville has earned him cult-hero status for eternity.
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