Rangers managing director Stewart Robertson has revealed the Ibrox club’s purchase of Ianis Hagi was made possible by their “incredible” season ticket sales – and promised more new arrivals are imminent.
Romanian playmaker Hagi, who spent the second half of the 2019/20 season in Scotland on loan, signed a permanent deal with the Glasgow club last week after Belgium club Genk accepted a £3m offer.
Robertson admitted the uptake of season books had, despite the coronavirus pandemic and football shutdown, enabled Steven Gerrard to make his first acquisition of the summer and stressed more players were poised to join.
Speaking to Rangers TV, Robertson said: “We were delighted to secure Ianis on a permanent deal. You could see in the few months he was here what a great addition he’ll be to the squad, what an asset he’ll be to the club.
“As Ross (sporting director Wilson) has said recently, there has been a lot of work going on through the Covid situation, the work hasn’t stopped. If anything, the scouting and recruitment team have been working harder than ever.
“That’s with a view to making sure we’ve got the strongest possible team on the pitch for the start of the season. The scouting work has been extensive. We are looking forward to some more announcements coming in the not too distant future.”
“We are very conscious of the fantastic backing we have had in terms of the season tickets so far. It has been incredible when you consider everything that has gone on. That has allowed us to do things like the Ianis Hagi deal and will allow us to do other deals going forward as well.”
Meanwhile, Robertson confirmed that every Rangers season ticket holders will receive free access to home games if they are unable to attend matches at Ibrox in the 2020/21 campaign due to Covid-19 social distancing restrictions.
“In terms of the streaming, what we set out to do and will do is ensure that every season ticket holder has access to the Rangers home matches,” he said. That’s regardless of whether you’re a Sky subscriber or not. You will get access to Rangers TV to watch those home matches.
“We’re conscious that we need to get value for the fans who bought the season tickets. That is really important to do that. That is one way to get the value to the fans.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel