There was one transfer that attracted most of the headlines in British football during the January window, that of Aaron Ramsey coming to Rangers and most fans thought that the rumour was absolute nonsense – and rightly so – until one man put his name to it.
Fabrizio Romano is now the established go-to source for any big transfer news and when he claimed that the Juventus midfielder could be on his way to Ibrox, people started to sit up and take notice.
The Italian has gone one further recently by stating that we have first refusal over any permanent deal for the Wales international midfielder so, for all that there might not be a definite option to buy, we do, at least, have some form of security. Speaking to Football Scotland the transfer supremo confirmed the arrangement in place with the Serie A giants:
“They’ll have the priority in the summer to make it permanent but it’s too early now to say whether it’ll happen or not.
“They’re for sure happy to have a player like Aaron Ramsey in their team.”
There is though, just one issue and it’s usually what blocks most transfers – money.
Ramsey is 31 and approaching the last year of his contract so wouldn’t command that big a transfer fee plus Juventus will be wanting him off the wage bill which brings me to the next issue – his current salary.
With figures quoted around the £400,000 mark, even at a tenth of that we would be struggle to put a deal together, especially when you consider that our current top earner – Alfredo Morelos – is on £33,000 per week according to Salary Sport.
It was the one hurdle that made the move seem impossible from the outset and yet, somehow, Ramsey is a Rangers player, only at the end of the season will we be able to judge if it has been worth the gamble and if there is any chance of him sticking around for longer.