Europe is the key to investment, says King

DAVE KING has pointed towards European qualification as being the trigger for any further significant spending on the Rangers squad. Speaking at the club’s AGM yesterday, King stated his belief that the current pool available to Mark Warburton was strong enough to fulfil that ‘critical’ aim. He later confirmed, however, that the manager would still have some scope to shuffle his pack during the January window. Rangers made 11 additions this summer, but Joey Barton exited after a disastrous spell while Niko Kranjcar has been ruled out for the season with knee ligament damage. ‘For various reasons, a significant part of our increased player budget has been tied up in resources that have not, up to this point, made a

meaningful contribution on the pitch,’ said King. ‘It is inevitable there will be setbacks such as this, as players adjust to the higher level required of Premiership football and the special demands of playing in Glasgow for a club like Rangers. Injury has also played its part. ‘It is an ongoing requirement for Mark and his team to review and rotate the player pool to ensure we are getting the best possible value for our investment in players and this must continue in the January transfer window. ‘It is my belief that Rangers is, presently, well enough resourced to achieve our next major football objective — a return to Europe. A further investment in players will be required at that point.’ Speaking to Rangers TV after the meeting, King then suggested Warburton could look to offload players to augment his January options. Asked if the manager had a budget available for the next window, King replied: ‘He does have — the view we have taken with Mark is that he must continue to look at his squad. ‘I think he will admit the summer transfer spending wasn’t as successful as it was the previous season. I know the standard is higher, but some of the players he has brought in — Joey Barton being a great example, he tied up a lot of wages but he didn’t perform for the manager. ‘The manager then has to recycle that, and I think he has to keep looking, see what players are working in his squad, see what ones he may want to move on and which ones he might want to bring in. So, I would expect some activity in January.’ Asked about potential targets, King added: ‘Mark is working on that, and it’s not something he will deal with me directly on.’