Pundit left ‘stunned’ at John Bennett £23million Rangers revelation
Alan Rough has been left “stunned” by the amount of money Rangers owe investors after John Bennett’s comments at the Annual General Meeting.
The deputy chairman revealed (Rangers Review, 6 December) that he has now committed an overall loan of £23million, with £8million still to be repaid.
The Herald’s Chris Jack wrote (9 November) that Rangers have paid back £22million of the £100million they owe for investment over the past seven years.
Rough believes the club have thrown the “kitchen sink” when it comes to finances in recent times, citing the Gers’ run to the Europa League final.
“I think everybody had taken their eye off Rangers getting to the Europa League final and people forget that Rangers actually threw the kitchen sink at it financially,” said Rough (PLZ Football Show, 11:36, 6 December)
“That kitchen sink was borrowing money from investors and I was stunned at the amount of money that had to be handed back. It just shows you how many people were prepared to put their money into the club to get them into the Champions League.”
Prudent
It’s clear plenty of people believe in the project at Rangers, otherwise, there wouldn’t have been such heavy commitment from outside investors over the past seven years. Furthermore, Bennett’s recent revelations show that financial backing will still come into Ibrox.
Many were calling for significant investment over the course of the summer due to the money which was received from the Calvin Bassey and Joe Aribo deals, but it’s also clear the board may have wanted to prioritise paying off some of the loans they owe instead.
The next year could be very different for the Gers with the club potentially looking to back Michale Beale in the next two transfer windows. After their participation in the Champions League, there will be an expectation amongst fans for there to be a big squad overhaul in the summer.
A number of the current group are out of contract and ageing and Beale will be eager to refresh some of the options which he currently has at his disposal.
In other Rangers news, Ross Wilson claims that Rangers were extremely close to signing an unnamed Dutch player under Giovanni van Bronckhorst