Rangers £21m splurge amid search to end Celtic dominance defended by insider’s ‘pure’ intention

Former Rangers lieutenant Harry Watling insists Michael Beale DID make good signings during his notorious summer splurge at Ibrox.

Steven Gerrard’s former assistant Beale landed the top job in November 2022 after Gio van Bronckhorst was shown the door.

Beale declared that reported fees for the starts “way off” what was being claimed – seemingly refuting that new strikers Dessers, Lammers and Danilo cost them close to £14m between them.

But club accounts would later show that £21million was splashed on new recruits including agent and signing-on payments are factored in.

Speaking to the Rangers Review, Watling insisted there had been hits from the splurge as they spent big in a bid to dethrone Celtic and progress in Europe.

He said: “I thought we made some brilliant signings. The very, very best don’t make perfect signings but you can go through the arrivals and say Jack Butland has done really well, Dujon Sterling too, Nico Raskin, and Todd Cantwell were fantastic for us.

“The intention was always pure from us. The intention was always to strengthen the squad, to make it better.

“How do we get to the promised land which is winning the league, winning the cups, winning the treble and going deep into Europe?

Asked if after the 1-0 defeat to the Hoops at the start of September 2023 he felt that time was almost up for the management team at Rangers, he said: “Internally after the game, the belief was actually there more than ever because of the way that we felt the game panned out.

“And I’m not just talking about staff, everybody was allowed to speak after the [Old Firm] game.

We were confident going into the pre-season that, regardless of the start which wasn’t ideal, we could definitely pick up