Martin’s ruthless transfer approach at Rangers
Russell Martin has taken on a huge job at Ibrox, with the Englishman tasked with not only closing the gap on Celtic, but becoming Scottish Premiership champions again.
The 39-year-old is certainly speaking well in his early weeks and months in charge at Rangers, providing a ruthless outlook when it comes to the type of players he wants to sign this summer, and outlining what will put him off bringing in some individuals.
“People need to be desperate to play for this club and not just be an option. When we have spoken to people and they say, ‘Well, I need to hear my options,’ we are onto the next one. People need to be desperate. Spoke to Joe [Rothwell] and there was no other choice on his mind, and he had a lot of options. “Same with Manny [Emmanuel Fernandez], spoke to my old manager at Peterborough, Darren, and he spoke so highly of him, and he has the potential to be anything he wants to be, I really believe that. Max [Aarons], loads of options in Europe but wanted to be here. Hopefully, because of the strength of the relationship with myself and Gilly [Matt Gill], but also because he wants to come and win and be part of something.”
There are likely to be plenty of ins and outs at Rangers before the transfer window reaches its conclusion, and it looks as though one current player’s time at Ibrox is now coming to an end. “Rangers have agreed a deal for defender Robin Propper to return to Dutch club FC Twente. He moved to Ibrox last summer and will now be allowed to return to the Eredivisie if he can agree personal terms. Rangers will also allow the likes of Leon King, Ben Davies, Clinton Nsiala and Jose Cifuentes to depart this summer.”
This feels like the right decision by Rangers, despite Martin recently confirming the agreement in place and admitting that he has been “really impressed” with Propper since coming in as manager.