DAVE King, the Rangers chairman, has told Mark Warburton, the Ibrox club’s manager, to target new signings during the January transfer window who are capable of competing in Europe.
Warburton, who is currently attempting to win the Championship and promotion to the top flight of Scottish football in his debut season with Rangers, has been told he will be able to strengthen his squad.
But King, speaking after addressing the AGM at the Clyde Auditorium yesterday, wants him to bring in players who can perform in the Premiership as well as in the Champions League and Europa League.
“We have indicated to Mark that the identification of players in January would be based on our prospects for the year after,” said King.
“If he identifies players it is really not as much about winning the league this year. We would have to bring in players that we thought were going to compete next season strongly in the Premiership and already looking towards Europe.
“We have chatted to Mark and said that if he wants to look at players he must bring them to us, but the mandate is to make sure there are improvements on the squad and can compete at a high level. They should be long term solutions, not stop gap.”
King, who revealed to Rangers shareholders at the AGM that the £5 million loan to Sports Direct would be repaid, will loan the Ibrox club £2.5 million along with George Letham, Douglas Park and George Taylor to keep it afloat this season.
However, he stressed funds were available to Warburton, whose team is currently level on points with Hibs at the top of the Championship table with a game in hand, to add to his current pool of players.
King added: “Clearly money becomes a factor eventually, but we are not constrained by money. We tell Mark to identify targets and then come to us. We have said to Mark that he might not get all the players he wants, but he’ll never get a player he doesn’t want.”
The South Africa-based businessman admitted he was pleased with the progress Rangers had made during the 2015/16 campaign under Warburton, the former Brentford manager who was appointed in the summer, but stressed they can improve further.
“I think it is fantastic,” he said. “If anyone had said at the beginning of the season we would have twelve wins and a draw, 37 points out of 42, you would have taken it. It has been good.
“Generally speaking, I think the performance of the team has been good, the results have been good, the fan reaction has been good. The fans are enjoying the style and the way the team are playing.
“But there is a lot of room for improvement. We are nowhere near where we need to be looking forward to next season and thereafter. There is still a lot to be done to continue to improve the team.”
King revealed the ultimate objective of the Rangers board is to have a club challenging Celtic for the Premiership as well as competing in either the Champions League or the Europa League - while living within its means.
“I regard the club’s rightful position as having a competitive chance of winning the Premiership against Celtic and having a competitive team that has a chance of doing well in Europe,” he told Rangers TV.
“That would be a normal Rangers from our point of view. When we get to that point I think thereafter it is important it is done on a sustainable basis. We recognise the need to fund it to get it there because so much damage was done to the club. But you can’t continue to go to shareholders all the time. That’s not a sustainable business model.”
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