Rangers fans love a clear-out, and I get it. When results aren’t matching expectations, the quickest fix in your head is: shift the passengers, free up wages, rebuild. Simple. Except it rarely is.
The point that keeps getting missed is the difference between wanting players gone and being able to move them on in a way that genuinely helps the club. If another side won’t pay the fee Rangers are looking for, or won’t take on most of the wages, the so-called “savings” suddenly become a lot smaller.
Fees, write-offs and what “savings” actually mean
Take Danilo as the example raised. If you’re valuing him at around £2m now, that’s already a hit compared to what you’d hope to recoup, and that’s before you even get into the contract reality. With over two years left on a deal, the salary cost is massive if he stays. If he goes, Rangers only truly benefit if the wage burden is moved as well.
And that’s the bit supporters sometimes skip over when they’re doing the “just get him out the door” routine. If you’re paying a chunk of the wage on a loan, or agreeing a settlement to terminate the contract, then you’re still paying. The amount saved is the gap between what you would have paid anyway and what you’re forced to cover to make the move happen.
Loans aren’t magic, and neither are pay-offs
Loans can be useful, but they’re not a reset button. In Scotland, where money isn’t exactly falling out the sky, it’s common for the parent club to keep paying a percentage. That means the football problem might move on for a season, but the financial problem doesn’t always follow.
Pay-offs are the same. They sound decisive and clean, but they’re basically the club paying up to get control of the situation back. Sometimes it’s worth it, sometimes it’s throwing good money after bad. Either way, it’s not “getting rid” for free.
The most awkward part: the player has a contract
The other reality is the simplest: players don’t have to go. A lot of fans talk as if the club can just remove someone from the squad list and that’s that. But if a player is on a strong wage and has time left on the contract, why would they tear it up unless they’re properly compensated?
Most of us, in their position, would want what we’re owed. Footballers aren’t any different. So when folk say “nobody wants them”, that can be part market, part wage level, and part the player’s own choice. Rangers might want a clean break, but it has to make sense for all sides.
So aye, clear-outs can happen. They just tend to be slower, messier and more expensive than the shouty version of it you hear in the stands.
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