Signed for free, sold for £8m: Rangers truly struck gold on McLeish’s 6ft 3 colossus – opinion

When Alex McLeish sold a former player for £8 million, Rangers made a significant profit.
The manager of Glasgow Rangers, Philippe Clement, has indicated that he wants to set up a player trading model at Ibrox that would enable them to get the most money possible for players they recruit for less than market value.

With players like Oscar Cortes and Mohamed Diomande, who could develop into fantastic players during their time in Glasgow, Clement will be able to move them up the ladder for a far higher price than what he paid initially.

Since January 2022, the Light Blues have only generated a profit on three occasions since returning to the Premiership in 2016: with Nathan Patterson, Joe Aribo, and club record salesman Calvin Bassey.

It wasn’t always this way; in the beginning of the new millennium, Rangers were selling players on a regular basis. One such player, Jean-Alain Boumsong, went on to bring in an incredible £8 million for the team when he was traded to Newcastle United in 2005.

The price at which the Rangers signed Jean-Alain Boumsong
Alex McLeish was under pressure to produce more success after completing a magnificent treble during the 2002–03 campaign, but the club’s financial constraints forced him to sell off several important assets.

Barry Ferguson, Nuno Capucho, and Emerson replaced Neil McCann, Lorenzo Amoruso, and Henning Beg—all older players who were obviously closer to retirement than playing at their best.

The result of these occurrences was that the club had a terrible season. The fact that the Gers did not win a trophy and came in second place behind Celtic by 17 points also meant that McLeish was under a lot of pressure from the board and the fans to turn things around before the next season.

While Boumsong, who had also signed a pre-contract with the Gers in December 2003, appeared to be the largest signing, he was able to obtain the services of Dado Prso, a finalist for the Champions League, on a pre-contract agreement.
They had to contend with demand from Inter Milan, Liverpool, and Arsenal in order to acquire the highly sought-after defender, but it would soon turn out to be a wise move.

Rangers’ Jean-Alain Boumsong was outstanding.
Considering he had played AS Monaco and Paris-Saint-Germain only months before, the Frenchman may have found playing against teams like Livingston, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, and Dundee a culture shock, but he settled very well to Scottish football.

Boumsong made 28 appearances for the Light Blues in the first half of the season as they significantly outperformed the previous one. In an attempt to put even more pressure on Celtic, McLeish’s team even managed two Old Firm victories in November while they contested for the championship.

The center-back’s continued consistency in the France national team during this period demonstrated how fortunate Scotland was to have him, and his contributions were not underappreciated.

How much Jean-Alain Boumsong was sold for by the Rangers
The fans were aware that it would never be possible to retain a player like Boumsong at Ibrox in the long run. The best-case scenario was to get a few years out of him before selling him for a profit.

McLeish was never free to decline Newcastle’s £8 million offer in the January transfer window of 2005, especially with the club’s mounting financial issues coming to light at Ibrox.

A legend among Rangers supporters, Graeme Souness, showered the Frenchman with adulation.

“This young man aspires to be the best,” the legendary player from Liverpool once stated. On the pitch, he communicates well. There’s never enough of them. We just don’t have enough talkers, which is something we’ve been needing.

“Watching him perform will be enjoyable for the fans. He has the potential to be our football team’s best player. He probably thinks of himself in the same league as [John] Terry and [Rio] Ferdinand.

Based on his performances with the Light Blues and Auxerre on the continent, it appeared that Souness had acquired a player who would play a significant role for Newcastle in the coming years.

Nobody knew this, but the Gers struck gold when they sold Boumsong for £8 million, proving they had gotten the greatest bargain.

Statistics from Jean-Alain Boumsong’s career
The 6′ 3″ giant fell short of expectations after paying a hefty transfer fee, making only 59 games for the Magpies in all. He only stayed in the northeast of England for eighteen months before moving on to Juventus in 2006.

After being involved in the infamous Calciopoli scandal in 2006, The Old Lady was demoted to Serie B. Boumsong only played one complete season in Italy before returning to France and joining Lyon in 2007.

After winning the Ligue 1 champions medal in 85 games with the French team, he ultimately concluded his career in Greece, making 75 appearances for Panathinaikos before retiring in 2013.

The former Auxerre defender was clearly one of the best players in Scotland and was unlikely to be successful north of the line.

Though he performed admirably in Glasgow, it turned out he was unable to duplicate his performances in the English premier league. In fact, he was ranked as the 17th poorest player to ever play in the Premier League.

Even after almost 20 years, Boumsong remains the club’s fifth-highest sale in history, trailing only Bassey, Patterson, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, and Alan Hutton. This indicates just how significant a fee it was.

Even that the Ibrox team can no longer draw players of this calibre, Clement ought to focus on developing young players who show promise and could eventually become marketable assets. Rinse and repeat to raise money for other moves in the future.

In the hopes of moving on a few players for large transfer fees during the summer transfer window, the club will have more money to spend on future superstars.

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