By George Overhill

17th May, 2023 | 8:40am

Rangers transfer update: Club tipped to 'stump up' amid £15million budget verdict

Rangers will “stump up” for Michael Beale’s summer transfer budget but more money is going to be needed, in the view of Jonny McFarlane.

The Ibrox boss has a significant rebuild on his hands despite the boost of finally landing an Old Firm win, with a host of players set to leave on the expiry of their contracts, and the overall level of the squad needing to be enhanced to react to two-straight Celtic titles.

He won’t have to work entirely on a sell-to-buy basis though and McFarlane expects around £15million to be provided before potential player sales to boost it further.

Speaking on Rangers Review’s YouTube channel McFarlane said on Tuesday (16 May, 10m 20s): “Rangers need to bring in money from somewhere. The club will stump up, I think we’ll see some investment from the club.

“I would expect it to be [to] the tune of similar to what was spent last year, of £15million.

“But I think more than that will be needed to be honest. It depends how much will be done on free transfers because £6million or £7million will be freed up on the wage bill.”

Enough?

The £15million budget from last year apparently wasn’t enough judging by a 10-point gap at the top of the SPFL and nothing heading into the trophy cabinet this year.

Whether it would have been had more consistent targets been signed is impossible to tell since huge swathes of the season were lost to injury for the likes of Tom Lawrence, John Souttar, Ridvan Yilmaz, and even Rabbi Matondo.

Free transfers are sure to be vital either way, but if a couple of the players who aren’t first-team regulars could be moved on for even small fees it might make the difference to Beale’s ability to manoeuvre.

Ben Davies and Matondo could hold some value still if takers are available, but it is easier said than done to shift players after just a year without a knock-down.

The production of Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos may not be what it once was, but it is still going to leave a gap, and if Malik Tillman doesn’t return that is another chunk of goals and assists lost.

Beale has done well with his two signings so far in Todd Cantwell and Nico Raskin, so if he can afford the players he wants there’s reason to believe he will make more improvements, but with numerous arrivals required it will be difficult to hit on every one.

In other Rangers news, one deal that the club have already secured has thrown a long-time star man’s future into question.