Rangers completed a permanent deal for Liverpool attacker Ryan Kent last night and director of football Mark Allen paid respect to Liverpool for helping make sure the deal got over the line.
He also said that European qualification had meant that Rangers were in a position to spend that sort of money on a player.
Manager Steven Gerrard had made it clear he wanted the 22-year-old winger back at Ibrox after spending a successful season on loan there last campaign.
The deal finally happened on deadline day after Jurgen Klopp had said Kent would have to leave on a permanent deal and not another loan.
Talking on the Jim White show (talkSPORT, Tuesday, 10am), the host said, “They were desperate to get him back and desperate to see Dave King spend big money. £6.5m was spent last night plus £1m in add-ons, it was a lot of money to spend and it’s a deal Rangers fans were celebrating last night.”
He conducted an exclusive interview with Allen who said, “We made our intentions very clear at the start of the window and we got there in the end.
“Listen, Liverpool have been fantastic first and foremost in helping us get it over the line. Ryan loved his time at Rangers and he was obviously keen to come back but the respect between both clubs certainly helped us.”
White said, “Not long ago it was all doom and gloom, financial meltdown – it seems it’s changing…”
“It says a lot to the support and the vision of the board where it wants to get Rangers to,” Allen replied. “Like all businesses it needs to be done in a prudent manner and in the last few years we’ve put it back on an even keel with a sensible business approach.
“European qualification has helped us and hopefully Rangers are now in a position where we can move forward.”
Rangers spending power
Rangers have to spend to keep up with and catch Celtic. Steven Gerrard has done a brilliant job so far but the Old Firm game on Sunday proves there’s still a way to go.
Qualifying for the Europa League group stages obviously helps and you could see how much it meant to Gerrard at the end of the play-off at Ibrox.
There’s obviously a balancing act for the Rangers board and the deal for Kent, said to be £7.5m with add-ons, will have raised eyebrows.
That comes on the back of spending £3.5m on Filip Helander, £700,000 on George Edmundson, £350,000 on Jake Hastie and £300,000 on Joe Aribo this summer.
That’s a significant amount of money for a club that rival supporters like to taunt with ‘going bust’ claims.
Allen is adamant that Rangers are spending in a prudent fashion but the board will want to see results on the pitch now.
The capture of Kent could help that. He had a brilliant season and went back to Liverpool with two young player of the year awards from the SFA and the club.
Gerrard and the fans will be looking for him to kick on and do even better in his second stint at the club.