FC Utrecht want Sam Lammers in town to complete a medical before his loan move from Rangers on Wednesday (10 January), which does not have a permanent option attached, according to De Telegraaf.
Jeroen Kapteijns, who broke the news of a deal for the 26-year-old, reported via the Dutch paper’s website on 10 January that the Eredivisie club can’t afford to match the price the Light Blues paid in the summer.
According to the latest report Michael Beale signed Lammers for €3.5million from Atalanta [£3.1m], but FC Utretcht only pay a maximum of €1.5m on transfers [£1.29m].
For now, Lammers has reportedly opted for a temporary return to his homeland because he wants to continue playing regularly, having lost his place under Philippe Clement.
Cut losses
It looks impossible for Rangers to make their money back on what has proven to be a nightmare move all round so they will have a decision to make on how much they are willing to lose on the whole operation.
For accounting purposes the club would only need to secure three quarters of his initial fee at the end of the campaign to break even as one season of his four-year contract [Daily Record, 15 June] would have been covered by amortisation.
But even that is perhaps wishful thinking when it is somewhat surprising that Utrecht are ready to take the ex-Sampdoria loanee of the Light Blues’ hands given his struggles in the SPFL, so there might not be too much other interest in him unless he suddenly rebounds in the Eredivisie.
It is clearly a buyer’s market when it comes to Lammers since his time in Glasgow has been anything but successful and Rangers are acknowledging that by letting him leave at the first opportunity.
So it may be that for the sake of finding a solution for club and player the Gers are prepared to take the upper limit of what FC Utrecht pay and admit defeat on the move.
What that would mean for the player trading model and the accounts is a valid concern, but with his prospects at Ibrox looking pretty minimal it may be the least bad option in comparison to paying him to sit on the Philippe Clement’s bench next season.
Leave a Reply