Philippe Clement looks to avoid Rangers contract headache as ‘case by case’ Ibrox strategy revealed.
The Scottish Premiership side face a mass exodus – after losing the likes of Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent for nothing last summer.
Philippe Clement reckons it’s CRAZY that Rangers face losing another six first-team stars for nothing this summer.
When the Ibrox gaffer found out that backup keepers Jon McLaughlin and Robbie McCrorie, Ryan Jack, Borna Barisic, Kemar Roofe, and John Lundstram had expiring contracts, he was taken aback. However, the Belgian manager is determined that the Light Blues must prevent a recurrence of last summer’s exodus, in which the Gers lost out on millions of dollars as important players like Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos were free agents. He also confirmed that injured striker Danilo might be sidelined until the last few weeks of the campaign.
He said: “You need to have experienced players who have experience and who can guide the story. You need a good balance but you need to have some young prospects that you can let them grow to a higher level than Glasgow Rangers, that needs to be the objective. You need a good balance in the way you work and you need players who are in contract in your club.
“There’s a lot of work to be done in that way. Everybody in the club is working hard in that way. There is now a clear vision in how to bring money into the club by developing the players but getting results also and winning trophies.
“It’s all of that together, it’s not based on one thing. You don’t come into a situation with players of value going out of contract and can leave for free. It’s a situation that while I lead the club that can never happen.”
Gers lost a fortune when Kent and Morelos ran down their contracts last year. But Clement hasn’t ruled out renewing the terms of group heading into the final few months of their deals. He said: “It’s case by case. It depends how they performed in the last couple of months and it’s not only me. I’m not the guy from the money, I’m the guy from the sporting side, luckily otherwise I would be poor really fast because I don’t have that money.
“I will give my opinion about that like always. That’s a good thing in the club, it’s really transparent.”
In an effort to guarantee a spot in his country’s Euro 2024 squad, left-back Ridvan Yilmaz has been linked to Turkey, although Clement was eager to refute the reports. “Okay, you’ve not known me that long but if you think that if he was not committed then he would never have played in the friendlies against Hertha and Copenhagen last week,” Clement said. The Gers had already turned down a £3.4 million loan-to-buy proposal from Galatasaray. He will never step onto the field since he is dedicated to the team and what he needs to do in training.
Gers are due to head to Dumbarton for their opening Scottish Cup tie today but the match is in doubt amid plummeting temperatures, with a 1pm pitch inspection planned. Kieran Dowell will miss out after injuring his ankle during last week’s training camp in Spain.
The Ibrox supporters will have to wait even longer to see Danilio, according to Clement, despite the former Norwich midfielder’s scheduled two-month layoff. “Kieran Dowell sustained an injury during the training camp and will be out for some time,” he stated.
“Kemar Roofe remains hurt. Tom Lawrence and Ryan Jack are available, but not for ninety minutes. The goal is to co-create the narrative with them. The one that is closest to returning is Ben Davies. Danilo won’t return until the final few weeks of the campaign. It was a really serious wound.
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