Burnley were ready to pay up to £4million for Fashion Sakala as French and Spanish clubs watched Rangers attacker
Burnley were ready to pay up to £4million to sign Rangers attacker Fashion Sakala during the summer but were turned away, according to Jordan Campbell.
It is reported that interest was high in the Zambian intentional, with clubs from France and Spain holding an interest as they watched on at Ibrox.
Rangers were said to be unequivocal in their stance that Sakala would be part of their squad for this season and beyond, forcing interested clubs to look elsewhere.
Writing in his latest piece for The Athletic, Campbell shared what happened when interested parties all watched on as the first move was made for the attacker.
“When Burnley tested the water this summer over the availability of Fashion Sakala, they did not need to dip their toe in more than once to gauge the temperature,” he wrote.
“Rangers were unequivocal in their stance that the Zambian was going to be part of their squad, and so Vincent Kompany’s team moved onto other forward options.
“It was understood that Burnley would have been willing to pay between £2-4million for Sakala. Other teams from Spain and France held an interest, too.”
Smart.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst will have been quizzed on the future of Sakala when such interest arrived, and will now be delighted that he stuck around at Ibrox.
The attacker hasn’t had as much game time as he would have liked, there is no doubt, but he did start and find the back of the net against St Mirren on Saturday [08 October], bringing back that huge smile to his face.
Burnley’s interest came out of nowhere, but with Calvin Bassey and Joe Aribo moving on over the summer, there was no chance that the squad could have been disrupted even more.
£4million means nothing to a club like ours, with the Champions League and Europa League windfall of recent years easily covering that and beyond.
Sakala will now hope for more opportunities in the squad after making his breakthrough again beyond the likes of Ryan Kent and Rabbi Matondo, with competition for places certainly high now.
In other Rangers news, this finance expert admits the Bears have numerous options on the table to generate more investment when needed