No need to sell before we buy, insists Murty
GRAEME MURTY insists he doesn’t have to sell before he can buy as he bids to bolster his Rangers squad during the January transfer window.
The Ibrox boss has added Sean Goss and Jamie Murphy to his ranks in recent days and could hand both their Gers bows in the Florida Cup.
But there could be plenty of action the other way as the likes of Carlos Pena, Fabio Cardoso and Dalcio find themselves surplus to requirements at Ibrox.
Former Gers boss Pedro Caixinha is keen on a move to take Pena to Cruz Azul and Murty insists he will consider every option on a deal-by-deal basis.
He said: “We aren’t pushing anyone out the door and I haven’t been told that anyone has to go.
“I haven’t been told that someone needs to go before I can bring someone in.
“If a player comes and says to me that he feels his options are limited and he’d like to go then I’d certainly listen to him.
“But we didn’t push Carlos out the door and we’re certainly not actively looking to sell anyone else.
“There was a request from Pedro to bring Carlos back to Mexico so that’s up to those two.
“What we’re trying to ensure is that when we have the people inside the building they are people who want to be here, who can be here and who give everything that they have.
“If we have that consistently from everyone inside the group then who knows what we are capable of. We can’t fall off that level.”
It is midfielder Pena that could be the highest profile departure of the window for Rangers as he gets set to link-up with Caixinha once again.
The Mexican has failed to make an impact in Light Blue and is now heading for the exit door just months after putting pen-to-paper on a three-year deal.
Murty said: “There is a multitude of factors. He’s coming across continents, there’s a different style of play, different expectation levels and all manner of different systems to consider.
“The system that suited Carlos the best was the diamond.
“That’s where he looked best but we don’t always have the facility to play that way.”
Murty was given the go-ahead to make moves in the transfer market after he was appointed as manager until the end of the campaign.
He will work alongside director of football Mark Allen in a bid to increase the quality of the Ibrox squad as Rangers look to finish second in the Premiership and win the Scottish Cup this term.
And the 43-year-old hopes his side will emerge stronger from the January window after an unsuccessful multi-million pound spend in the summer.
He said: “Nothing would surprise me if the player performing at the top of his game had an offer come in for him.
“Nothing would surprise me if the player who isn’t getting a game wants to go on loan.
“We protect the club, that’s paramount. We need to make sure we have happy players because happy players perform better.
“I’m happy with the balance of the squad at the moment but we can add to it if we feel we need to.”