One of the sad realities of where Glasgow Rangers are in the European food chain is that they need to develop and sell players to build a sustainable trading model.
The Light Blues need to bring in young players with potential and nurture their development before selling them to bigger European teams or clubs for a significant profit, to then fund new arrivals to improve their squad.
They have done so successfully at times in the past, with the likes of Hamza Igamane and Calvin Bassey, but their city rivals have been more effective than them in that regard.
After the 3-0 win over Celtic on Sunday, some supporters may already be looking at central midfielder Dan Neil as a player who could attract interest in the future.
Why Rangers may not make a major profit on Dan Neil
The Light Blues skipper, who is keeping the armband warm during Lawrence Shankland’s injury lay-off, scored two sublime goals from the edge of the box in the League Cup win over the Hoops last weekend.
Neil is quickly emerging as one of Derek McInnes‘ key performers in Glasgow, starting each of his last six appearances, but there is something that may put teams off from spending big on him in the future.
After starting 44 of Sunderland’s Championship matches on their way to promotion in the 2024/25 campaign, manager Regis Le Bris decided that he did not have what it took to play in the Premier League.
|
25/26 Premier League |
Dan Neil |
|---|---|
|
Appearances |
3 |
|
Starts |
0 |
|
Minutes played |
13 |
|
Goals |
0 |
|
Assists |
0 |
|
Unused substitute |
19x |
|
Failed to make matchday squad |
1x |
The 24-year-old talent only played 13 minutes across three appearances before being shipped out on loan to Ipswich Town before being released on a free transfer earlier this summer, which allowed Rangers to snap him up for free.
Whilst players can develop and improve, some clubs may look at his failure to establish himself at Sunderland, the team that he was captain of, and question if he is worth spending significant money on in the future.
Rangers have a star who will be worth more than Dan Neil
Neil may not be sold for huge money in the future, due to the black mark on his Premier League career, but the Gers do have a player who has the potential to be worth millions by the end of the season.
In the summer transfer window just gone, the Scottish Premiership giants swooped to sign central defender Olwethu Makhanya from Philadelphia Union for a modest fee of £3m.
He arrived at Ibrox with no prior experience of European football under his belt, having only played in South Africa and the MLS, which meant that he joined as a relatively unknown player.
Teams across Europe may only now be discovering him and his talents because of his performances for Rangers, and that could end up being good and bad news for the club.
Last season, Rangers paid £3.5m for Emmanuel Fernandez, and it was reported by the end of the campaign that he was valued at around £35m amid interest from the likes of Arsenal, West Ham United, Chelsea, and Bayer Leverkusen.
The Nigeria international may have remained at Ibrox, but his soaring market value in Glasgow is proof that the club can provide players with a platform to progress and develop as players.
|
26/26 Premiership |
Olwethu Makhanya |
|---|---|
|
Appearances |
5 |
|
Clean sheets |
3 |
|
Pass accuracy |
87% |
|
Tackles + interceptions per game |
2.0 |
|
Ball recoveries per game |
5.4 |
|
Duels won per game |
4.6 |
|
Ground duel success rate |
53% |
|
Aerial duel success rate |
54% |
Makhanya’s start to life at Rangers suggests that he is already well on his way to becoming a £35m-rated centre-back like his teammate, because he has been in fine form.
The Gers have kept three clean sheets in five Premiership matches with the South Africa international in their defence, whilst he also played a key role in keeping a shutout against Celtic last weekend.
Rangers have kept five clean sheets in their last seven games with Makhanya as a starter. Whilst that is not entirely down to him, as there are other players in the defence, it does speak to the impact that he has had on the side.
The Scottish giants had conceded six goals in their first four games in all competitions before this impressive run of defensive form with the £3m colossus in defence.
Whilst Neil has already had a chance to establish himself in a major European league and failed, Makhanya is still new to European football and could be an attractive target for teams looking to bring in an exciting up-and-coming centre-back.
If he continues to deliver impressive performances for Rangers, as Fernandez did last season, then he may also attract interest from top clubs and earn a hefty £35m valuation by this time next year.