Glasgow Rangers find themselves with an excellent chance of adding the Premiership and Scottish Cup trophies to their League Cup triumph from earlier this season.

 

Philippe Clement has transformed the Ibrox side from also-rans into league leaders in the space of four months, overseeing an eight-point swing at the top of the table.

Not only that, but the performances have been excellent, with the Gers creating plenty of chances during games, yet they lack a true out-and-out striker to convert them.

Dare I say it, but the momentum appears to be with Rangers in the chase for the league title and if Clement can maintain these sorts of displays in the coming weeks, the next few months could be special indeed.

His savvy in the transfer market saw the Light Blues sign Fabio Silva, Oscar Cortes, and Mohamed Diomande last month and all three look like they can contribute effectively in the coming months.

Could this be the beginning of Rangers asserting their dominance once again in Scottish football? Early indicators suggest it certainly could, and it proves how far the club have come since 2016.

Rangers wasted money on a plethora of signings

Before appointing Steven Gerrard in May 2018, the Gers had to endure the management of Mark Warburton, Graham Murty and Pedro Caixinha, and it was the latter who arguably set the club back years.

Rangers’ first season back in the top flight during 2016/17 proved to be a disaster, as they went through three managers, and it was Caixinha who led the club into the summer transfer window of 2017.

With a third-place finish behind them – trailing Celtic by a staggering 39 points – it was clear the squad needed to be revamped.

The Portuguese manager was certainly busy that summer, signing 11 players for the Gers while moving on seven first-team assets who clearly did not feature in his plans.

Money was spent too, which the club didn’t have much of. Eduardo Herrera cost £1.5m while his compatriot Carlos Pena was also a big-money signing, with Caixinha splashing out £2.2m to lure the Mexican to Ibrox.

Herrera was a poor signing, yet Pena proved to be even worse, and it was certainly £2.2m wasted on someone who failed to light up Ibrox with his performances.

What Carlos Pena was earning at Rangers

Along with the extravagant transfer fee that was spent on securing his signature, the Light Blues were also paying Pena £26k-per-week which was a staggering sum for someone who failed to hit the ground running.

The attacking midfielder did have some previous pedigree as he had registered 62 goal contributions – 52 goals and ten assists – across 191 games for Club Leon during his spell in Mexico and this was the type of form which Caixinha was looking for him to replicate after he joined Rangers.

Pena ended up playing for the club on just 14 occasions, scoring five goals during that time, which included a brace against St Johnstone, but he missed a few games through injury and started just six Premiership matches.

It was soon evident that Pena wouldn’t last at the club and in January 2018 – three months after Caixinha was sacked – he returned to Mexico to join Cruz Azul on loan.

Coincidently, Caixinha was his new manager, having secured the job following a brief spell out of football, and the move saw the Gers pay half of his £26k-per-week wages, showing how poor a business deal it was.

The total cost of Carlos Pena at Rangers

He played only 13 games for Cruz Azul before his loan stint was cancelled due to alcohol-related issues, but the midfielder soon joined Nexaca on another temporary stint following a period spent in rehab.

Remarkably, this loan deal was also cut short, yet Rangers were still paying his full salary during this time away from Glasgow and the whole deal represented a major loss for the Ibrox side.

Indeed, combining the £2.2m transfer fee along with his £1.7m wages earned during his ill-fated 84-week spell in Scotland, Pena rinsed the club of a grand total of £3.9m.

A truly ridiculous amount, and he eventually had his contract terminated in February 2019 having failed to play a game under Gerrard, and the former Liverpool captain discussed the termination in a press conference, saying:

“This decision has been made above me by the board. Certain things happen at a club that are above a manager’s head. The decision’s been made by Dave King and the board and I respect it, and we move on.”

In 2022 Rangers Review, journalist Derek Clark stated that “ultimately, this was a disastrous transfer in what was an equally disastrous spell for the club” after the Court of Arbitration for Sport justified the reasons why Rangers terminated Pena’s contract earlier, and it looked as though a line was drawn under the whole saga.

While some transfer business has been poor since Pena eventually left the club, it now looks as though the Gers have a manager who knows exactly what he is doing in the transfer market and this will lead to fewer poor signings.

Of course, there is always going to be one or players who arrive at the club and fail to live up to their expectation, but Pena had a growing reputation and clearly looked the part, especially judging from his previous statistics in Mexico.

It soon proved to be a massive waste of money and while the Gers are in a much better financial situation now, Clement still cannot afford to waste money on players who won’t stand up and be counted as he seeks to achieve further success with the club.

With smart acquisitions in the January window, Rangers are in a far better place this year than they were way back in 2017, that’s for sure.