Rangers should always be looking for the next big thing in foreign fields in the hope that picking up a bargain can lead to future riches and glory.
Erling Haaland was a six-figure signing for Molde before cashing in for millions and Harry Kane spent years out on loan in England’s lower leagues before injury gave him his chance.
It was a similar story for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia who starred at Ibrox but so easily could have become a Rangers player and is now being linked with a mega-bucks move.
Big money offer for Kvicha Kvaratskhelia serves Rangers reminder
According to Gianluca Di Marco, Sky Sports Italian football expert and mentor to the infamous Fabrizio Romano, the Napoli forward is on French giants PSG’s radar.
The Georgian’s agent dismissed reports linking the 22-year old with a move to Saudi Arabia but confirmed that PSG have made an offer:
“Saudi Arabia’s interest in Kvaratskhelia is not true. There is interest and an offer from PSG in the player, but everything depends on the decision of Napoli and its president.”
The fee, said to be €100m or £85m is one that new Napoli boss Antonio Conte will probably have the final say on but after missing out on European football, the mercurial playmaker might be tempted.
He’s a little out of Rangers price range now, however, there was a time when a move to Ibrox was a serious possibility with none other than Craig Moore acting as a broker in what would have been a remarkable deal:
“He was in Russia and due to all the issues he went back to Georgia to play at Batumi.
“I had the mandate to try and get him to Southampton with the management company I am working with. Southampton at £11-12million – which was the figure at the time – said that’s probably not something we are looking at, and it’s still a bit of a risk.
“The English clubs like to see you perform somewhere else before and then pay overs, which is madness for me.
“I did throw the little Malteser at Rangers saying ‘is this not somebody you could maybe look at? Get him in on loan with an option to buy, because it’s not going to happen here in the UK.
“Rangers were set at that time with their recruitment and their signings, and the next minutes I seen him pop up at Napoli for £10million.”
What might have been for Rangers
Moore doesn’t say who was in charge when Kvaratskhelia moved to Napoli but it isn’t hard to do the maths.
Imagine if Giovanni van Bronckhorst had been given a bigger budget after getting to the Europa League final or, rather than signing Ben Davies and Ridvan Yilmaz, reinvested the fees for Calvin Bassey and Joe Aribo where it was needed most – in the final third.
We can but dream.
