Glasgow Rangers chiefs Nils Koppen and Philippe Clement attempted to energise the squad at Ibrox during the recent summer transfer window.
The Gers started the process by allowing Jon McLaughlin, Kemar Roofe, Ryan Jack, Borna Barisic, and John Lundstram to all move on as free agents at the end of May.
That opened the door for the Light Blues to make moves to strengthen their options across the park, with Jefte, Liam Kelly, Mohammed Diomande, Oscar Cortes, Clinton Nsiala, Connor Barron, Vaclav Cerny, Hamza Igamane, and Robin Propper all arriving before deadline day.
Then, on the final day of the window, the Scottish giants were able to secure two new additions, with Neraysho Kasanwirjo joining on loan from Feyenoord and Nedim Bajrami signing permanently from Sassuolo.
The free agent departures were not enough to make room for all of those fresh signings, however, and Rangers did cash in on a number of other first-team operators.
Connor Goldson, Todd Cantwell, Robby McCrorie, Scott Wright, Ben Davies, Sam Lammers, and Jose Cifuentes all left either permanently or on loan.
How much Rangers sold Sam Lammers for
The Gers cashed in on the Dutch forward, who had only joined the previous summer, earlier this year as FC Twente swooped in to sign him.
Sky Sports journalist Anthony Joseph claimed that the Dutch side have paid an initial fee of £2.5m and that the deal could rise to as much as £4m, including add-ons.
This means that it remains to be seen whether the Light Blues will make a profit or a loss on the player they paid £3m to sign from Atalanta last year.
Lammers was signed by Michael Beale at Ibrox and endured a difficult first half of the season under the English coach and, then, Clement when the Dutchman replaced him.
The 27-year-old dud featured regularly in the first few months of the campaign, starting ten of his 17 appearances in the Scottish Premiership, but did not make much of an impact on the pitch.
He produced just one goal and two assists as an attacking midfielder in those 17 league matches before being sent out on loan to Utrecht for the second half of the season.
Appearances
18
Goals
10
Big chances created
5
Assists
3
Key passes per game
1.1
As you can see in the table above, the left-footed forward fared far better in his home country with an outstanding return of 13 goal contributions in 18 Eredivisie matches.
His sensational form on loan with Utrecht may have helped the Gers to recoup at least £2.5m from FC Twente for his services this summer, which means that Rangers may not have had a huge howler with their £3m deal to sign him last year.
Whereas, one of their other sales this year – Cantwell – ensured that they did have a howler in the transfer market, following his move to Blackburn Rovers for even less money.
How much Rangers paid for Todd Cantwell
Beale signed the former England U21 international from Championship side Norwich City in January 2023 for a reported fee of £1.5m in his first transfer window in charge.
That move came less than two years after Sky Sports had claimed that it would take a fee of up to £50m to sign the midfielder from the Canaries, amid interest from Aston Villa at the time.
Cantwell was preparing for the 2021/22 Premier League season with Norwich at the time and went on to fail to register a goal or an assist in eight games, before going out on loan to Bournemouth for the second half of the campaign.
His struggles in England led him up to Scotland to sign for Rangers and the attacking midfielder hit the ground running with a return of six goals and four assists in 16 Premiership matches in the second half of the 2022/23 season.
Journalist Josh Bunting described him as "outstanding" that term and it is not hard to see why, when you consider his ten direct goal involvements in just 16 appearances.
Unfortunately, however, Cantwell's story at Ibrox ended in disappointing fashion last month with his move back to England to join Blackburn.
How much Rangers sold Cantwell for
Rangers had a howler with the English attacker as it was reported that they cashed in on him for a fee of just £500k on deadline day, which is a third of the price they paid to sign him and at least £2m less than the fee they received for Lammers from Twente.
This means that the Light Blues made a significant, 66.6%, loss on the former Canaries star, despite him only turning 26 earlier this year and being in the prime years of his career, in theory.
The 26-year-old maestro was not involved in the first-team at the start of this season with Rangers because he handed in a transfer request to move on.
Whether it was down to a lack of interest in him or because the Gers were unwilling to let him go at first remains unclear but selling a 26-year-old, English, attacking midfielder with Premier League experience off the back of a solid season in the Premiership for just £500k is a howler on paper.
Cantwell, irrespective of his transfer request, was a valuable asset at Ibrox. He was valued at €8.5m (£7.1m) by Transfermarkt after his showings in the Scottish top-flight last term.
Appearances
30
Goals
7
Big chances created
7
Assists
5
Key passes per game
1.7
As you can see in the table above, the Rangers magician produced 14 goals and 'big chances' created in 30 appearances in the division for Beale and Clement combined.
Despite that, along with his age and experience at the top level in England, the Gers had to settle for a measly £500k fee and made a £1m loss on him this summer.
Therefore, the Gers had a howler with Cantwell this year and this may be one they look back on with regret, particularly if he goes on to star with Blackburn in the Championship.
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