KEEPING AN EYE ON THE MARKET
After the £3m signing of Hagi, Ibrox sporting director Wilson is still...
ROSS WILSON says Rangers are constantly evaluating a redrawn transfer market in pursuit of further new signings to follow the £3million acquisition of Ianis Hagi.
The Ibrox sporting director was central to the discussions last week that secured Hagi for a fee coming in at around £1.4m less than an initial agreement struck with Genk in January.
That reduction was due to the huge financial impact of coronavirus on football globally, with accountancy firm KPMG predicting around £6billion could be knocked off the collective value of players across Europe this summer.
Wilson was unwilling to put a figure on how many more additions Rangers intend to make in the weeks ahead, but stressed potential deals were being monitored in support of Steven Gerrard’s bid to prevent Celtic from securing ten in a row next term.
‘What we have tried to do is plan as much we can,’ said Wilson, who left Southampton to replace Mark Allen at Ibrox last October.
‘Ianis was the first one we targeted and have got that done. We are working on other things. We are keeping a really close eye on the market.
‘The market is really unpredictable. The transfer window isn’t open yet. It will open slightly later and probably be extended a bit as well.
‘My understanding from FIFA is that it can’t go any longer than 12 weeks but all the dates will change.
‘We can see the marketplace has changed. We had a deal with Genk for Ianis but that changed because the world changed and everyone recognised that.
‘Our job here is make sure we totally understand the market and where all the opportunities are.
‘We have a clear plan at Rangers that we stick to. That’s a plan Steven and I talk about every day.’
Celtic’s mission to complete a record title sequence will inevitably dominate the agenda when Scottish football returns, with August 1 pencilled in as the earliest potential start date.
While that adds more pressure to those leading Rangers’ attempts at resistance, Wilson insisted it cannot control all of their decision-making.
‘It’s very important not to be blinkered by that,’ he said. ‘We say a lot that you have to turn off a lot of the irrelevant noise that’s outside. That’s important when you are involved in a club of this size and stature.
‘I think the reason Steven and I both enjoy working at this club so much is that there is always pressure, always intensity. Most of that comes from our fans who are incredible. They follow us in huge numbers wherever we go.
‘Yes, we have to turn off a lot of the outside noise and not be blinkered by it, but the passion and intensity generated here makes it a fantastic place to work.
‘A lot of those qualities are ones you would associate with Steven as well. He’s such a driven guy, an outstanding communicator and generally fantastic to work with every day.
‘We’ll all be working as hard as we possibly can in an everchanging world to make Rangers as successful as we possibly can. That is in all of our characters here. We are all driven to get the club back there. Whatever it takes.’
Wilson readily admitted Rangers have to operate at a financial disadvantage compared to their Parkhead rivals, whose last financial figures showed more than £30m in the bank.
The Ibrox outfit have seen around £20m of planned investment postponed due to the wider impact of coronavirus, although interim chairman Douglas Park has stated fresh funding remains in the pipeline and that an announcement is expected in ‘a couple of months’.
Asked about the disparity between the clubs, Wilson told
talkSPORT: ‘That’s clear and obvious given what the journey for Rangers has been over the last ten years. We have clearly spent some time outside the Premiership, which was unprecedented, and, as a result, spent some time outside of European football. ‘And we all know the revenues that can be generated from the Europa League and the Champions League. ‘As a result, that puts us on a different financial platform but we are backed here by the chairman Douglas Park, the previous chairman Dave King, and all the board and investors have been really open with wanting to improve the club. We are thankful for that as well.’ Rangers and Celtic also found themselves on different sides of the intense debate over the running of the SPFL and April’s controversial vote to end the season. Park called for the suspension of SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster and legal advisor Rod McKenzie pending an independent investigation into how the ballot was handled. An inquiry was rebuffed, however, when only 13 clubs backed it at an EGM called by Rangers, Hearts and Stranraer last month.
‘The SPFL will tell you themselves it is a members organisation, a group of clubs,’ added Wilson.
‘Our relationships with other clubs are very good. We don’t have any issues with that. We have highlighted and raised some issues we as a club felt passionately about. We stand by that.
‘In this day and age, I think it’s good if a club has a strong opinion and want to stick by it.
‘Our relationships with other clubs are very strong. We will be delighted to continue to build them as we move forward.’
Asked if that meant everyone was friends again, Wilson replied: ‘It depends who you are talking about. We have got plenty friends in the game.
‘What’s been said has been said. We stand by what was said as a club and we move on.’