A new era is on the horizon for Glasgow Rangers after it was reported this week that the 49ers investment group have agreed a deal in principle to become the new owners of the club.
Sky Sports reports that they are aiming to buy 51% of the shares at Ibrox to become the majority owners, with health insurance tycoon Andrew Cavenagh and 49ers Enterprises president Paraag Marathe said to be two of the leading figures in the takeover.
The report adds that Dave King and John Bennett, among others, are prepared to part ways with their shares in order for this takeover to be completed in the coming weeks and months.
A big decision on the direction of the club has already been made, recently, before any takeover could be completed, though, as Rangers opted to remove Philippe Clement from his post.
The Belgian head coach managed 86 matches for the Gers and won a single trophy, beating Aberdeen 1-0 in the League Cup final early on in his tenure.
Once the 49ers gain majority control, they can start to make their own decisions to direct the future of the club, and they should be ruthless in the summer transfer window, letting three stars move on from Ibrox.
1 Danilo
Rangers, managed by Michael Beale at the time, reportedly splashed out a significant fee of £6m to sign Danilo from Feyenoord in the summer of 2023.
Unfortunately, the Scottish giants have not had much back in return in the subsequent 18 months as his time at Ibrox has been plagued by injury issues.
Danilo broke his cheekbone in September of his first season at the club and missed nine matches before returning in October, only to suffer a knee injury in December that kept him out until May – missing 32 games in the process.
The 25-year-old number nine has also missed 12 games with a knee injury in the current campaign, which means that the centre-forward has sat out a staggering 53 matches across all competitions for Rangers since the start of the 2023/24 campaign.
Danilo, who was accused of being “sloppy” on the ball by pundit Steven Thompson in his first season, has had some good moments, including the goal against Celtic above, in a Gers shirt – with 12 goals and eight assists in 40 appearances.
The former Feyenoord man, excluding loanees, is reportedly the third-highest earner at the club on £26k-per-week, earning more than Hamza Igamane (£7.2k-per-week), who has scored more goals this season (13) than the £6m signing has in his entire Rangers career (12) to date.
His lack of availability and production on the pitch when fit, compared to the wage he is on, suggests that the 49ers must ruthlessly sell him in the summer, in order to make way for a more reliable replacement to come in.
Danilo is not the only high-earning player who must be ditched by the new ownership, though, as attacking midfielder Tom Lawrence should also be let go.
2 Tom Lawrence
The Wales international was signed on a free transfer from Derby County by former Gers boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst back in the summer of 2022.
Like Danilo, the 31-year-old flop has struggled with injury issues throughout his time with the Light Blues. He missed 49 games with an Achilles injury in his first season, then the midfielder was absent for seven matches with a muscle issue last term, and he has been out for ten games in the current campaign.
These issues have restricted him to just 62 first-team appearances for Rangers in almost three years at the club, which shows that he has been far from a reliable option for any of his managers at Ibrox to date.
Lawrence is out of contract this summer and reportedly commands a wage of £22k-per-week, making him the joint-sixth top earner at the club, excluding loanees, which should make it a fairly simple decision for the 49ers.
The former Derby star has scored 11 goals for Rangers in all competitions but his lack of availability, coupled with his wages, age, and expiring deal, suggests that the new ownership should release him this summer.
He is not a reliable player, due to his injury issues, and it seems unlikely that he has much room for improvement at the age of 31, which is why the club should not look to extend his expensive contract heading into next season.
3 Cyriel Dessers
Finally, Cyriel Dessers, who is the second-highest earner at the club on £27k-per-week, should also be ruthlessly ditched by the 49ers in the upcoming summer transfer window.
In the January window, Monza, Leganes, Empoli, Saint-Etienne, and Cagliari were all reportedly interested in a deal to sign the Nigeria international, which suggests that there could be a market for him at the end of the season if Rangers decide to part ways with the striker.
It is fair to say that the Light Blues should expect reliable and quality performances from Dessers, because he turns 31 this year and is the second-highest earner at Ibrox. As one of the most experienced and well-paid members of the squad, the 30-year-old forward should be able to be relied upon.
Unfortunately, that has rarely been the case throughout his 20 months or so in Glasgow to date, as his finishing has been anything but reliable in front of goal.
24/25 Premiership
11
10
24/25 Europa League
2
9
23/24 Premiership
16
27
23/24 Europa League
1
0
23/24 Champions League
1
2
As you can see in the table above, the Nigerian forward has spurned a whopping 48 ‘big chances’ in the Scottish Premiership and European competitions since the start of last season, scoring 31 goals in the process.
He has been particularly disappointing on the European stage for Rangers, with three goals and 11 ‘big chances’ missed, and this suggests that the club need a better centre-forward to take the next step in Europe.
Ultimately, the wasteful striker has not done enough in front of goal to prove himself to be a reliable number nine for Rangers, despite a decent enough goal return, as his finishing has let him and the team down far too often.
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1 ByDan Emery
Therefore, the 49ers should ruthlessly cash in on the forward and attempt to replace the high-earner with a striker who could be relied upon week-in-week-out, in the hope that they can help to close the gap on Celtic next season.