Rangers have thrown £17m down the drain as Club Brugge loss uncovers serious problem
Rangers have some tough questions to answer after losing 3-1 to Club Brugge in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Brugge were dominant against Rangers at Ibrox, scoring three goals in the first 20 minutes of the play-offs’ first leg on 19 August.
The Belgian outfit will now be the favourites to qualify for the group stage of the European competition unless the Light Blues can pull off a resounding victory at the Jan Breydel Stadium on 27 August.
With Russell Martin’s future rightly being scrutinised at Ibrox, he may not be to blame for everything that has gone wrong in G51.
Rangers ‘criminal’ for spending £17m on five players who didn’t make squad vs Club Brugge
Nedim Bajrami, Ben Davies, Oscar Cortes, Ridvan Yilmaz and Rabbi Matondo were all left out of the Gers’ squad for the Champions League play-off.
The Light Blues have spent approximately £17million on the players who were arguably not deemed good enough by Martin to feature at Ibrox.
It shows the financial mistakes the Glaswegian outfit have made in terms of their recruitment over the years, with Scott McDermott calling it criminal.
The journalist wrote in the Daily Record on 20 August: “The fact Rangers have spent circa £17million on Nedim Bajrami, Ben Davies, Oscar Cortes, Ridvan Yilmaz and Rabbi Matondo, yet none of them are deemed good enough or fit enough for their European squad is criminal.”
Kevin Thelwell will hope to do much better at Ibrox
Max Aarons’s move to Ibrox on loan from Bournemouth hasn’t gone to plan so far, with the defender struggling in his initial appearances at the Gers.
The Englishman became the Light Blues’ first signing under Martin, and has featured at left-back on occasions.
With 10 players coming through the door at the Glaswegian outfit this summer, there’s an argument to be made that certain transfers haven’t really worked out.
| Player | Transfer |
| Lyall Cameron | Permanent |
| Max Aarons | Loan |
| Nasser Djiga | Loan |
| Emmanuel Fernandez | Permanent |
| Joe Rothwell | Permanent |
| Thelo Aasgaard | Permanent |
| Djeidi Gassama | Permanent |
| Oliver Antman | Permanent |
| Mikey Moore | Loan |
| Jayden Meghoma | Loan |
Djeidi Gassama had a goal ruled out for Rangers against Brugge, and he has certainly been a brilliant signing at Ibrox.
Oliver Antman has also shown a lot of potential after arriving from Go Ahead Eagles, with Joe Rothwell also bringing authority to the Light Blues.
The jury is still out on Nasser Djiga, Emmanuel Fernandez, Jayden Meghoma, Thelo Aasgaard and Mikey Moore, but Kevin Thelwell will be hoping they are successful in G51.
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