Rangers' Alastair Johnston shares confidence in transfer...

Rangers’ Alastair Johnston shares confidence in transfer strategy

Rangers’ Alastair Johnston shares confidence in transfer strategy and reveals ‘slightly different model’

Alastair Johnston is optimistic about the long-term benefits of Rangers’ efforts to implement a better transfer strategy.

Since taking over as the manager of the Gers in October of last year, Philippe Clement has talked about the “crazy

situation” in which five members of his team had expiring contracts. At the end of the current campaign, first-team

and sign new contracts at Ibrox. “We want to bring in transfers that can make an impact right away and have added

value for the next few years on the field and selling them for bigger amounts,” Clement stated.

Nils Koppen left PSV, where he was head of scouting, to take a position at Rangers as director of football recruitment on

January 2. Rangers signed 22-year-old Mohamed Diomande, an Ivory Coast Under-23 international, on loan from

Danish team Nordsjaelland with an eye on both the present and the future. Rangers is obligated to purchase the player.

According to reports, the Govan club is going to sign 20-year-old Brazilian left-back Jefte, who is presently on loan at

APOEL in Cyprus, from Fluminense. They have also been heavily linked to Oscar Cortes, a 20-year-old Colombian

winger, who would join on loan from Lens in France with the option to buy.

The former chairman and non-executive director Johnston acknowledges that the new business model at Ibrox has a

“very strong influence.” Johnston remarked, “I guess historically we haven’t quite had the internal expertise to actually

affect that as well as we should.” “We acknowledge that there are good and bad things in life; the more the loss, the

better they perform for us. Ultimately, though, if you can maintain that business model and carry it out, overall, our

team will develop and improve over time in terms of continuing to satisfy supporters, who are unquestionably the most

important group that we must serve in order to ensure that, each and every month of every year, Rangers are fielding as

good a team as they can.

“Nils is critical to the company’s plan, and I hope his endeavors succeed. The approach off the field is much more team-

oriented than it was under his predecessor, who was a rather individualistic sporting director, but it is still a little

different. In addition to the evaluation and contributions that he has favored and welcomed, the manager has also

encouraged a great deal more teamwork. I have a good feeling that we have the appropriate people in the right positions

to carry out that plan.