We won’t fill more jerseys
Rangers chief Dave King admits the club’s new retail deal won’t be used to fund any more spending this summer – but he insists it could see them come on strong in the January window.
The chairman revealed their recruitment for Pedro Caixinha so far has been funded from external sources and doesn’t expect a flagship signing on the back of new income potential from shirt sales.
He said: “I don’t think so. The plan Pedro has in place, we’ve agreed to fund in any event. It was just being provided by loans from us.
“What this will do would give him more flexibility in January. To say ‘okay, we’ve now built up a surplus’.
“This was completely unbudgeted. We’ve been running the club on the basis we’ll get no income from retail, which meant any shortfall had to come from soft loans and the various manners in which we funded the club.
“What this does is bring in a quick and immediate revenue stream which will give Stewart Robertson and the director of football some flexibility in advance of next season, say, and means I don’t have to go knocking on Douglas Park’s door for him to write out another cheque!”
With the recruitment of director of football Mark Allen, managing director Robertson added: “It also gives us the ability to plan because we now know we have that income.
“So you look at next summer, or two, three, four windows ahead, which is really where we should be looking if we’re going to properly plan for the future.
“That’s what the director of football role is all about. It’s the long-term side of things this is going to impact, not the next six weeks or eight weeks of the window.”
King is also unconcerned that Allen’s arrival after the appointment of Caixinha came in the wrong order.
He shrugged: There’s not a concern. Pedro is supportive of a director of football. He understands. He gets it.
“Pedro’s job was to come in, assess the quality of the squad and target his acquisitions early because of the Europa League qualifiers.”