Europa League final: Who are Rangers' most saleable assets?

FT Desk

• Updated: 19 May 2022 10:08 BST
• 5 min read

Rangers have upset the odds to make Wednesday's Europa League final against Eintracht Frankfurt, but they still might need to cash in on some key performers at the end of the campaign...

The recently-deposed Scottish champions have already made €630,000 per victory in this season's competition, a further €2.5 million for reaching the semi-final, and they could make as much as €8.6m with victory on Wednesday - as well as a lucrative place in next season's Champions League group stages.

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Rangers posted £24m in annual losses as recently as last November, though, and although they then sold promising Scotland right-back Nathan Patterson to Everton for a club record £11.5m (€13.6m), they may be tempted to cash in on others, Champions League place or not.

Who could Rangers get the most money for?

Ryan Kent

At €9m, Liverpool academy graduate Ryan Kent is the second-most valuable player owned by the Glasgow club after striker Alfredo Morelos (€16m), according to FootballTransfers' inhouse algorithm.

However, with Morelos undergoing surgery on his thigh and Kent lighting up the Europa League, another big performance in the final could see the English winger leapfrog his Colombian colleague.

Kent's contract is reported to have a £20m (€23.6m) release clause - one that former Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa was keen to meet last summer before his departure from Elland Road in February.

Kent's contract expires in 2023, so Rangers may opt to cash in now rather than lose him on a free next summer. If he can add to his 19 assists this season - five of them in the Europa League - tonight, the Glasgow club may strike while the iron is hot.

Alfredo Morelos

The highest valued player at Rangers, Morelos may miss the Europa League final but he scored five times to help get them there, including the second against Borussia Dortmund when Giovanni van Bronckhorst's side ran out 4-2 winners in Germany in the knock-out round playoffs.

Morelos came close to joining Lille two summers ago, instead the French club splashing out €30m on Canadian Jonathan David and taking the Ligue 1 title off Paris Saint-Germain the following campaign, but when fit and firing, Morelos remains in that kind of conversation.

Still only 25, Morelos has scored 113 times in 224 games in all competitions for Rangers since joining from HJK Helsinki in 2017, and his contract at Ibrox is up in 2023 - just like Kent's.

Calvin Bassey

Perhaps the player whose stock has risen highest on Rangers' Europa League journey, Calvin Bassey was used as a left-back by Steven Gerrard but has increasingly been employed at centre-back since Van Bronckhorst took the reins in November.

Fellow centre-back Connor Goldson is among the players with the most recoveries and completed passes in the Europa League this season, but he also makes mistakes, and Bassey has been increasingly mopping up after his defensive colleague, who is seven years his senior.

Nigeria beat England and Italy in a potential three-way international tug-of-war to cap the former Leicester City youth player in March, and a similar scramble for his services at club level could be on the cards.

Joe Aribo

Now a teammate of Bassey at club and international level, London-born Joe Aribo has stepped things up another notch this season, contributing eight goals and 10 assists in all competitions whether playing in central midfield, on the right flank, or indeed leading the line, as he did against RB Leipzig in the last round.

Deceptively good with the ball at his feet, the left-footer joined Rangers for just a £300,000 (€354,000) development fee 😁from Charlton Athletic in 2019, is rated by FootballTransfers at €4m, and could fetch significantly more if he leaves Sevilla with a Europa League-winners medal around his neck.

Glen Kamara

Another left-footed midfielder on Rangers' books, Glen Kamara tends to play deeper than Aribo, where his coolness in possession helps him dictate play, although he retains a flair for the big occasion, as his goal in the 3-1 win over Leipzig in the last round attests.

An Arsenal youth academy graduate, Kamara represents Finland at full international level. At 26 and with three years to run on his existing deal, Rangers could be well placed to demand a decent transfer sum.