The owners of the San Francisco 49ers are set to complete a takeover of Rangers with the Glasgow club in desperate need of a new direction.
Barry Ferguson’s honeymoon as Rangers manager didn’t last long. Less than a week, to be precise. This was all that was between the former club captain’s interim appointment and the 2-1 defeat to Motherwell in his home managerial debut. The home fans who were still inside Ibrox for the full time whistle booed. Loudly.
The boos weren’t necessarily for Ferguson, but for the situation Rangers find themselves in. The Govan outfit are a long way from title contention, trailing Celtic by 16 points at the top of the Scottish Premiership. On top of this, last month’s home defeat to second-tier Queen’s Park in the Cup was one of the most embarrassing results in Rangers’ modern history.
Amid the doom and gloom, though, Rangers fans have allowed themselves to dream of better times as reports of an imminent takeover have emerged. Indeed, the owners of the San Francisco 49ers are set to purchase a controlling stake in the Glasgow club which a deal reportedly to be ratified by the summer.
49ers Enterprises already own Leeds United, raising the prospect that Rangers could be placed into a multi-club ownership group. This might make some supporters nervous of becoming a feeder team to another club down south, but Rangers desperately need some new ideas – and investment – to catch Celtic.
Any takeover would have to be a long-term project. It might be years before Rangers can even think about challenging for the title again such is the gap that has opened up at the top of the Scottish game. How the 49ers would square this with the relentless desire for trophies at Ibrox is unclear. A realignment of expectations at the club might have to happen.
Rangers are still paying for a series of bad decisions made in the transfer market. After winning the Scottish title under Steven Gerrard in 2020/21 and reaching the Europa League final the following season, the club had a number of valuable assets. There was interest in the likes of Alfredo Morelos, Ryan Kent, Glen Kamara and Borna Barišić who could have brought in £50m or more.
Rather than moving them on, though, Rangers kept most of their best players until they stagnated. Kent, Morelos and Barišić left as free agents while Kamara was sold for just £8m when clubs had been prepared to offer double that when the Finnish midfielder’s stock was highest. This left Rangers to rebuild their squad without anything to re-invest.
Celtic, on the other hand, have continued to sign young, develop and sell on. This has been their transfer model for over a decade and it has seen the club collect over €100m in fees over the last two seasons. And yet Brendan Rodgers’ side are strolling to a fourth straight title having made the knockout rounds of the Champions League this season.
To compound the mistakes made post-Gerrard, Rangers have bought poorly. Over £15m was spent at the start of Michael Beale’s ill-fated tenure only for almost every signing to be a dud. Last summer, another £15m was spent and while the hit rate was slightly better with Hamza Igamane and Mohamed Diomande showing potential, Rangers still aren’t getting bang for their buck.
If the 49ers’ takeover pushes Rangers towards a more coherent transfer strategy, this can only be a good thing for the club. Supporters might be impatient to get back to winning ways, but new foundations must be built before Rangers can truly start to target titles and trophies. This process will take some time.
The upside in buying Rangers, however, is clear. This is a club with an estimated support of nine million fans around the world. Rangers might not have access to the Premier League as Leeds United do, but they play in European competition virtually every season. It’s much easier for the 49ers to get Rangers into the Champions League than Leeds.
Scottish football in general is attracting a lot of outside investment at the moment as multi-club groups recognise the potential north of the border. Hibernian are part of the same multi-club network as Bournemouth while Hearts have a partnership with Brighton owner Tony Bloom which could lead to an injection of £10m.
Rangers need more than £10m to get on the straight and narrow again. The Ibrox club registered losses of £17m last year and clearly need a new direction on and off the pitch. Multi-club ownership comes with its own challenges, and Rangers should be wary of losing any autonomy, but the 49ers’ takeover could be the ladder they need to get out of the hole they dug for themselves.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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