Earning ‘full value’ is next step

RANGERS deputy chairman John Bennett admits earning significant transfer income is a vital next step for the club — but stresses players will only be sold at their full value. Speaking at yesterday’s AGM, managing director Stewart Robertson said the Ibrox business model should involve ‘moving on one or two players a year’. That process is likely to begin at the end of this season as the club, which lost £15.9million for the 12 months to June 30, looks to move on to a more sustainable footing. Rangers turned down offers for Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos during the last window and Bennett remains adamant no one will go on the cheap. Citing income from fans, commercial contracts and European football as the first three ‘pillars’, Bennett said: ‘The fourth pillar is not yet standing but it’s being built painstakingly, led by Ross Wilson and his team, and that is player trading. ‘It’s called trading because it’s purchasing and selling. The second bit is integral to our model as well. ‘If you look at our monetisable assets, in terms of the players, there have been numbers thrown around. I don’t think anyone would dispute it is an awful lot higher than what we are carrying in our balance sheet. ‘One thing is clear, we don’t want to sell them at values that don’t reflect their full and fair value and you’ve seen that last year in bids for our players. It has to reflect our valuation. And if that is the case, we’ll have a decision to make. ‘While player trading is the important fourth pillar, we have not got ourselves in a position where we have to sell to validate the model. That’s not the case. ‘Yes, it’s been deficit-funding as we’ve gone on but we’re very fortunate that we have loyal investors. That’s been a deliberate strategy to frontload the investment to make sure we’re not in a position that undervalues our players.’ Bennett and chairman Douglas Park have agreed to plug a predicted £8.8m shortfall for this season. Highlighting that directors and investors are fans of the club, he revealed the huge total ploughed in since the 2015 takeover spearheaded by Dave King. ‘Everything we’ve got requires investment,’ added Bennett. ‘Substantial investment is required and we need absolutely every shareholder to stay aligned and help us deliver. ‘I think I’m right in saying that since March 2015, the current group of investors have invested around £65m — and rising. What they’ve committed — and continue to commit — it’s very sizeable.’