Borna Barišić initially struggled for form in a Rangers shirt, but to his credit he has made the left full-back berth his own, over the last 18 months.
The Croatian signed for a reported £2.2m fee from Osijek, is set to earn Rangers a hefty increase on that figure when his times comes to move on.
A fee of around £15 million does not seem inaccurate, when you consider the recent transfer of Jeremie Frimpong from Celtic to Bayer Leverkusen for an amount around £10 million.
Let’s take a look at both players attacking contributions going back to last season.
2020/21
goals – 2
assists – 13
(Up to 23/2/21)
2019/20
goals – 2
assists – 14
2020/21
goals – 1
assists – 5
(Up to 23/2/21)
2019/20
goals – 2
assists – 3
At 28, Barišić should soon be hitting his prime, wheras Frimpong has more time on his side at just 20.
The Croatian has 15 caps for the 2018 World Cup finalists, wheras Frimpong hasn’t made the step-up from the Netherlands U20 squad.
At senior level, there is little doubt of Barišić’s superiority.
With his age in question and the consideration of the player as an asset to Rangers, may the club look to cash in on the player this Summer, hopefully after he goes to the Euros as a Scottish title winner.
His stock and value may not get any higher, giving the Ibrox hierarchy a very difficult decision to make.
Player trading
Rangers deputy chairman John Bennett spoke on this theme at the 2020 AGM.
Speaking of the ‘four pillars’ that are an internal term used to describe the approach to the club’s development, he spoke of fan involvement and contributions, commercial progress and European football, as well as the final aspect of the model, player trading.
Bennett stated, “The fourth pillar is not yet standing, but it is being built painstakingly, led by Ross Wilson and his team and that is, of course, player trading.”
“It is called trading as it is purchasing and selling. The second bit is integral to our model as well.”
“Many people have actually commented on that round the annual report – it is quite clear that is the fourth pillar.”
“It is being built – if you look at our ‘monetisable’ assets, if you put it that way, in-terms of the players, it is certainly a lot higher a value. There have been numbers thrown around, but I can tell you this – I don’t think anyone would dispute that it is an awful lot higher than what we are carrying in our balance sheet.”
“One thing is clear – you could describe them as ‘monetisable’ assets, but you don’t want that to translate into selling them at values that don’t reflect their full and clear value.”
“You have seen that last year when we have said no to bids for our players. It has to reflect our valuation and if that is the case, we will have a decision to make.”
It is likely thaat Rangers will sell at least one key player in the next transfer window, of course this will be compensated by incoming players but the club has to get this asset of player trading right, something that has been lacking going back to Walter Smith’s second spell in charge.
If Celtic can command around £10 million for pure potential in Frimpong, what will the fee be for an almost finished article, an assist machine and a wand of a left foot?