Clement says the Rangers star may be able to leave for free and acknowledges that he declined the opportunity to leave Ibrox.

Clement says the Rangers star may be able to leave for free and acknowledges that he declined the opportunity to leave Ibrox.

Sometimes it’s difficult to feel sorry for Rangers manager Philippe Clement. The Belgian has taken over a tumultuous position at Ibrox, where the club is hampered by incompetent board members and transfers while going through a major renovation. While Rangers’ failure to advance to the Champions League has caused a financial gap to widen, Old Firm rivals Celtic are the epitome of stability. After losing their brief reign of supremacy in Scotland, Rangers have been frantically trying to rebuild. Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s presence initially helped ease Steven Gerrard’s departure, but when Gerrard’s guys didn’t move on, the bite bit back.

After training most of the team as Gerrard’s assistant, Michael Beale was brought in to lead the team’s rebuild. Things did not go smoothly. Rangers have committed to Philippe Clement, who now has the difficult chore of cleaning up the mess amid a wave of pessimism at Ibr-, sorry, Hampden. The club has now had four managers in three years.

Clement laments Rangers contract situation
The disastrous handling of player contracts between wages and letting them run down has been a huge source of frustration for the Rangers gaffer.

In little over 12 months, Rangers have seen previously influential players like Allan McGregor, Scott Arfield, Filip Helander, Ryan Kent, Alfredo Morelos, John Lundstram, Borna Barisic, Ryan Jack, Kemar Roofe and Jon McLaughlin walk out the door for nothing.

Whilst plenty of these were well past their sell-by date, Rangers failed to cash in when their stock was highest and the club now has to put up cash to replace them.

The Gers have also lost a hugely influential amount of experience from the dressing room.

Asked about the rumbling feeling of discontent and threats of protest at Rangers, Clement has once again referred to player contracts as a major issue.

Many of these deals were signed during the sporting directorship of now-Nottingham Forest director Ross Wilson.

As a result of the situation, Clement has hinted that someone could be allowed to leave with no transfer fee due to their high wages.

“I think these (protests) happened much more than 10, 20 years ago,” Clement told the press. “There’s a shift in that all over Europe in that way.

“First of all, I believe that fans don’t want to arrive in the same circumstance as they did twelve years prior. That’s not what they want. Therefore, they must comprehend that the club makes an effort to do everything right. And continue to be well. and achieve outcomes. Therefore, if your contract is about to expire and you have six players, you could need to let go of someone else for free in order to reduce pay. Rebuilding it requires time. “I am aware that many fans are aware of that. Perhaps some people won’t. Is possible. Therefore, we must concentrate on demonstrating to them our desire to offer this club our all on a daily basis. “On the field, the players must demonstrate that and produce outcomes. Additionally, there’s only one thing important for fans, it’s winning games. I know.

“So we need to focus on showing them that we want to give everything, every day for this club.

“The players need to show that on the pitch and get results. And there’s only one thing important for fans, it’s winning games. I know.”

The comment will give rise to suspicions about which player Philippe Clement was referring to with regards leaving on a free.

The obvious choice is Connor Goldson, who was one of Rangers’ highest earners and moved to Aris Limassol this summer.

Whilst the fee is officially undisclosed, reports in Cyprus have claimed Rangers recouped around £1.4m for Goldson.

Another option is Dutch striker Sam Lammers, but reports have suggested that Rangers banked around £2.7m on the sale of Lammers to FC Twente.

It really only leaves Ianis Hagi, who is currently training with the B team as he tries to negotiate an exit out of Rangers.

There were reports last week that Rangers would be willing to let £3m midfielder Hagi leave for nothing to get him off the wage bill.

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