Oops! Clement inadvertently reveals undisclosed fees as two more star players depart for free.
Philippe Clement has confirmed that seven players departed Ibrox in the summer for free.
At the beginning of June, Ryan Jack, John Lundstram, Borna Barisic, Kemar Roofe, and Jon McLaughlin all left as their contracts expired.
There were no notable transfers in, with Todd Cantwell’s move to Blackburn Rovers last week reportedly fetching just £500. With two years remaining on his contract, it’s likely that the club offered a small payment to facilitate the former Norwich player’s departure.
The goal was to reduce the wage bill by £10m annually, with any fees received from player departures seen as a bonus.
High earners Sam Lammers and Connor Goldson were moved on for undisclosed fees. Now that the transfer window has closed, Clement has strongly hinted that no fees were actually received, with both players likely being offered incentives to move to clubs with lower salaries.
During a Q&A session at New Edmiston House tonight, Ross Pilcher of the Daily Record reported under the headline “Clem is on”:
The manager has been discussing Rangers and will soon take questions from the fans. There still appears to be significant goodwill towards the Belgian.
It’s easy to forget the strong run Rangers had under him when he first took over, with the title race looking competitive until some late-season stumbles.
While it hasn’t been the perfect start, Clement has shown he can build unbeaten runs, which will be crucial moving forward.
However, the key remains defeating Celtic, and that’s the formula he must find.
59 minutes later, when asked if his side could mount a serious title challenge, ‘Clem’ responded:
Yeah, I’m fully committed to this project, or I wouldn’t be here. It’s definitely a big rebuild. We’ve had 16 players leave, and that’s not easy to manage. On top of that, seven players left for free, and we had to replace them with players that cost money. We also needed to cut the wage bill, as the way the wages had been structured in recent years wasn’t sustainable.
It seems that only the mildest and most neutral questions were chosen for the session. Hopefully, Dundee United will pose more substantive questions on Sunday, with another ‘welcome party’ waiting when the players return to Ibrox.
The remaining high earners at Ibrox are Jack Butland, James Tavernier, Tom Lawrence, Rabbi Matondo, Cyriel Dessers, and Danilo.
Source: https://videocelts.com/2024/09/blogs/latest-news/woops-clement-gives-the-game-away-on-undisclosed-fees-with-two-more-star-names-leaving-for-zero/