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Cost £1.5m, now worth £6.9m: Wilson struck gold with Rangers move for 5ft 9 “catalyst” – opinion

Rangers have hit the jackpot with a signing made by Michael Beale earlier this year.

Glasgow Rangers head into the final three fixtures of 2023 on a high note having won their first League Cup trophy since 2011 recently, along with securing passage to the knockout stages of the Europa League.

Philippe Clement will know that wins against Motherwell, Ross County, and Celtic prior to the winter break will see the Gers top the Scottish Premiership table heading into the winter break and this is as good an incentive as any.

This could allow the Belgian coach to enter the January transfer window with confidence that he can lure one or two quality players to his squad for the second half of the season as they would be joining a club flying high at the top of the division.

One thing is for sure, Clement will need to have a better transfer record than Michael Beale, who only managed to sign a few players who have since turned out to be good investments for the club.

Michael Beale’s transfer record at Rangers

In January of this year, the former manager lured Todd Cantwell and Nicolas Raskin to the Gers, and they proved to be excellent signings, and this built up confidence ahead of the summer transfer window.

By the end of the window, Beale had signed a grand total of nine players, yet some have come under scrutiny for their performances.

Cyriel Dessers and Sam Lammers were the two marquee arrivals, yet, heading into 2024, the duo have scored just 11 goals between them across all competitions.

These numbers are not good enough for two regular starters and more will be required heading into the second half of the 2023/24 campaign.

While Jack Butland and Leon Balogun have been impressive since joining the club on their respective free transfers, former sporting director Ross Wilson and Beale played a masterstroke by signing Cantwell when they did, as he cost just £1.5m from Norwich City.

Fast-forward nearly a year later and his market value has risen substantially while becoming one of the most important members of Clement’s squad.

Todd Cantwell’s market value at Norwich

Cantwell made his debut for the East Anglian side during the 2017/18 season, and it did not take him long to make his mark on the side.

The Canaries won promotion to the Premier League in the 2018/19 campaign and the attacking midfielder featured 24 times but his best was to come in the top flight.

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