According to the Daily Record, Rangers and John Halsted have had lengthy talks about a “major” cash infusion at Ibrox.
On October 29, the outlet’s website states that the director of Ibrox has had “detailed” discussions about giving the Light Blues more funding.
After being trailed by interim chairman John Gilligan, US billionaire Halsted, who is located in Wyoming and serves as managing director of Pamplona Capital Management, is considered the most probable candidate to provide the fresh investment from the current regime.
The announcement comes after the club’s most recent annual financials were made public, which revealed an operational loss of £17.2 million in spite of record revenue levels.
John Halsted will provide the Rangers a significant financial boost.
The club obviously needs the substantial sum of money that appears to be on the way from one of the current investors, so it’s a nominally positive requirement.
Since title 55 four seasons ago, Ibrox’s success on the pitch has consisted of one Scottish Cup under Giovanni van Bronckhorst and one League Cup under Philippe Clement. The issue is not so much the amount of money spent as it is the progressively poor return on that investment.
The management has been forced to supervise a cost-cutting procedure in order to reduce the pay bill and let go of highly compensated veterans since the Rangers have overpaid for poor performance for far too long.
Although it provides some relief, it does not absolve him of the declining returns he has received from his players, particularly because the majority of those he has purchased are still up for debate.
As with John Bennett and others up to this point, Halsted’s willingness to assist the club is demonstrated by the fact that one of the present directors is probably contributing more money.
However, considering that their management of the club hasn’t kept pace with their generosity, some fan bases won’t be happy that the status quo will continue.
While there have been rumours of a possible takeover movement emerging from the Far East, former chairman Dave King wanted to return to his previous position for a two-year period while promoting investment interest from Saudi Arabia and America [Rangers Review, 15 September] [PLZ Soccer, 23 September].
The club fears that the large sums of money coming in from Halsted will be squandered in the same manner that millions have already been squandered, and that they will return next season and beyond with their cap in hand but with less money.
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