Celtic’s £20 million transfer warning shot to Rangers is part of a “priority test” for player trade.
O’Riley, a 23-year-old Danish international who has scored 10 goals and provided 12 assists this season, is not improving, according to Parkhead manager Brendan Rodgers.Twitter/picture/bkToHCVULY
— January 25, 2024, Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano)
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Although speculations of a loan proposal with a mandatory £20 million option accompanying it have Celtic refusing to back down, it is obvious that the Parkhead team will soon make a significant profit on the midfield player.
This is only the most recent cautionary tale for Rangers, who are trailing their competitors in the transfer market and require significant adjustments to catch up to Celtic financially.
Rangers require successful “systemic” player trades.
The Rangers’ chairman, John Bennett, emphasized in the club’s most recent financial reports the necessity for better player transactions.
Bennett acknowledged that the market for player trades can be “volatile,” but the chairman of the Rangers insisted that the team needs to “replace sporadic ‘wins’ with systematic success.”
Bennett called player trade a “priority” for the current Board, while Philippe Clement, the manager of Rangers, recently mentioned the need of developing players for Glasgow sales in the future.
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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.
While the Parkhead team has experienced its fair share of howlers during the same time span and still does, their Ibrox counterparts have been reluctant to take a serious risk.
The Rangers have just received a warning shot across their player trading bow from Matt O’Riley, indicating that everything is about to change.
Rangers must start making improvements in this area if they hope to balance the books in Glasgow, as an extra £30 million is at stake for Champions League qualification the following season.
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