How the tables have turned.
Remember when Rangers used to have to pay players off or give them away for free?
Even as recently as 2018 we were letting the likes of Fabio Cardoso tear up his contract only for him to rejuvenate his career and end up signing for Porto, similarly, we were signing players like Eduardo Herrera and Carlos Pena, players who were never going to be good enough to succeed at Ibrox – costing us a fortune a long the way.
The Daily Record claims that Olivier Ntcham, a near £5million signing from Manchester City, is set to leave Celtic and sign for AEK Athens, considering that they were – reportedly – valuing him around the £20m mark as Southampton, Everton and West Ham United all entertained the idea of signing the midfielder last summer, that they could lose him for next to nothing is yet another indication of the shambles they now find themselves in.
Neil Lennon never fancied Ntcham, and the feeling was blatantly mutual as the 25-year old downed tools before infamously being sent to Marseille on loan only for Andre Villas Boas to resign because he didn’t want him. Ironically, I still think he was their best midfielder, if they hadn’t hired such a backwards thinking manager, they might have got more out of him and kept him happy.
It’s a prime example of what can happen if you hold on to players for too long, they become disinterested and more importantly, lose significant amounts off their valuation, especially if their form falls off a cliff.
With Odsonne Edouard being priced out of a move to Leicester City and Kristoffer Ajer also pressing for a move, that their best players all have just a year left on their current deals does not a successful transfer model make, we need to learn from their mistakes and be ruthless – no player is bigger than the club and can’t be replaced, if they don’t want to stay, sell them, and move on.