Philippe Clement reveals how Rangers plan to fix its failing transfer model

For Philippe Clement, there is really only one way to develop a player trading model that makes a profit for Rangers. Buy them young and then sell them in bulk.

Rangers, a model used effectively by arch-rivals Celtic and clubs across Europe, are lagging behind.

At Wednesday’s AGM, finance director James Taylor confirmed to a stunned audience that the club had secured just £810,000 for five established players in a year that saw the club make losses of £17m.

“In terms of the player trading model, it hasn’t worked for a number of years,” Taylor acknowledged.

Clement hesitates to criticize those responsible for the events before his arrival and chooses his words carefully. While Sam Lammers, Todd Cantwell, Connor Goldson, Scott Wright, Robby McCrorie, Borna Barisic and John Lundstram all left, they did so for different reasons.

This does not alter the fact that their departure has revealed a serious malfunction in the contract management department.

Nils Koppen was recently appointed technical director of Rangers

Hamza Igamane has been identified as a player Rangers could sell for big money in the future

“Some were older, some maybe made a lot of money that other teams didn’t want to pay,” Clement said. “It’s clear that the players weren’t really big on the market and everyone wanted to sign them, so that creates a situation where you have less influence on those negotiations.”

The clubs that trade the best players in the 19 to 24 or younger age group develop their talent and sell them for a profit. While Robin Propper was signed for defensive experience, other Rangers signings such as Mohamed Diomande, Connor Barron and Hamza Igamane reflected a desire to make more money in the transfer market.

“If you sign a player at 28, 29, 30 years old and give him a two, three, four or five year contract, you know you have no added value,” said Clement.

“It’s harder to sell players of a certain age, so those are things you also have to take into account.”

Until the transfer model starts to bear fruit, Clement and technical director Nils Koppen have to be creative. While loan signings are an important part of the strategy, the manager wants to reduce the number of players on loan year on year.

In an ideal world he would secure Vaclav Cerny from Wolfsburg on a permanent deal, but he acknowledges the money may not be there to pay the fee or match Bundesliga wages. Like Abdallah Sima last season, Cerny could be the one to get away.

“I had these conversations with the board in June when everyone knew the figures for the season and the years before,” the manager added. ‘We knew we had to cut wages significantly.

“One of the points we talked about is loaning out players. It is something that we need at the moment because we don’t have the money to buy Vaclav – or we didn’t have the money to buy Abdallah – but we have to see it and we have to try every year to have one less player on loan . and another player who is an asset to the club.

Wolfsburg loanee Vaclav Cerny is loving life at Rangers after a shaky start

Clement is hopeful that the club can make major improvements to the player trading model

‘Abdallah wanted to stay here, loved staying here, but of course other teams were also interested and he also chooses his career, his wages, everything.

‘So of course the club wants to reduce the number of players on loan and that is a strategy for the coming years, but you cannot solve all these problems in one transfer window.

‘Vaclav is clearly enjoying himself here, he also told me last week that he has never felt as good in his career as he does now. Physically, mentally, in the team, in the locker room, with the staff, in the club, with the fans, everything. . But of course he has a contract with another club at the end of the season, so those are negotiations again.’

Clement (left, with Cerny) spoke during the General Assembly about the need to bring more young players out of the academy.

Concerned that Scottish football is heading down the wrong path, the SFA’s competition working group is exploring the concept of partnership agreements between Premier League clubs and lower league teams. Clement is still not convinced that this is enough.

“I think the most important thing – and I’m not just talking about Rangers, I’m talking about Scottish football – is to get the better young talent playing in Scotland’s second division,” Clement added.

‘Collaboration agreements are certainly a step forward, but is that sufficient to achieve the desired result? There needs to be a drastic turnaround in what is happening with the young players in Scotland.

‘There are different countries, the Netherlands has been doing that for a long time, Belgium has been doing that for a long time, Croatia and Scandinavia have been doing that too – and they are achieving results.’