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Two players who have been very prominent in the past month or so today secured their futures.
The players in question are the winger Chris Burke and the central midfielder Jeremy Clement.
Outgoing was Clement; the 21 year old France U21 international. After gaining notoriety among the Rangers fans for some distinctly outspoken comments clearly illustrating his desire to leave, the youngster was on an inevitable path to the exit. The only question remaining was where he was likely to end up.
It had seemed a foregone conclusion that Paul Le Guen was going to sign him for his new club Paris St Germain, but Rangers reportedly rejected the club’s £1.4M bid. After having invested over a million for a player seemingly well rated, the Ibrox outfit were not about to let Clement leave for a minimal sum.
Gerard Houllier’s outfit Lyon then countered PSG’s bid with their own increase of £400,000 on the original offer, which Rangers accepted, leaving the ball firmly in Le Guen’s court.
This conceivably left the situation in limbo; Rangers were unlikely to accept the £1.4M offer even although the player made it plain he wished to transfer to the club offering it. However, a short period later had transpired when it was announced the move to PSG had carried through, for an undisclosed fee. So, the only reachable conclusion is PSG upped their bid enough to persuade Rangers to release the player to them, although perhaps not going quite as high as Lyon had.
Nevertheless, Clement is gone, and a line can be drawn under a very sorry chapter of a well-regarded player publicly disrespecting his club to engineer a move away for the simple reason his boss had done the same thing earlier. He does not leave Govan with his head held high, and indeed could be playing Ligue 2 football next season given the current fortunes of his new club.
Going in the ‘opposite’ direction is Chris Burke. After a long saga of procrastination over his contract, he today signed a 2 year deal with the club. The entire affair left a distinctly sour taste in the mouths of many fans, for many postulated that his delay was purely to sell himself to a higher bidder, in the hope he would gain a more lucrative contract. Every player has this right, but the bitter notion originates from the player’s regular injuries throughout his career, while the club stood by him and showed remarkable loyalty to him. His apparent lack of immediate committal rang hollow for many fans, and asked questions of his desire to remain at the club, and to repay faith shown in him.
It has been argued his lack of immediate signature was due to clever foresight – possibly given the shambolic nature of the club under PLG, Burke felt it better for his career to see how the land lay over time, rather than immediately commit to the new manager and the club if he conceived of continued internal strife.
Nevertheless, whatever side is taken, his form must immediately improve given his abject recent displays.
The players in question are the winger Chris Burke and the central midfielder Jeremy Clement.
Outgoing was Clement; the 21 year old France U21 international. After gaining notoriety among the Rangers fans for some distinctly outspoken comments clearly illustrating his desire to leave, the youngster was on an inevitable path to the exit. The only question remaining was where he was likely to end up.
It had seemed a foregone conclusion that Paul Le Guen was going to sign him for his new club Paris St Germain, but Rangers reportedly rejected the club’s £1.4M bid. After having invested over a million for a player seemingly well rated, the Ibrox outfit were not about to let Clement leave for a minimal sum.
Gerard Houllier’s outfit Lyon then countered PSG’s bid with their own increase of £400,000 on the original offer, which Rangers accepted, leaving the ball firmly in Le Guen’s court.
This conceivably left the situation in limbo; Rangers were unlikely to accept the £1.4M offer even although the player made it plain he wished to transfer to the club offering it. However, a short period later had transpired when it was announced the move to PSG had carried through, for an undisclosed fee. So, the only reachable conclusion is PSG upped their bid enough to persuade Rangers to release the player to them, although perhaps not going quite as high as Lyon had.
Nevertheless, Clement is gone, and a line can be drawn under a very sorry chapter of a well-regarded player publicly disrespecting his club to engineer a move away for the simple reason his boss had done the same thing earlier. He does not leave Govan with his head held high, and indeed could be playing Ligue 2 football next season given the current fortunes of his new club.
Going in the ‘opposite’ direction is Chris Burke. After a long saga of procrastination over his contract, he today signed a 2 year deal with the club. The entire affair left a distinctly sour taste in the mouths of many fans, for many postulated that his delay was purely to sell himself to a higher bidder, in the hope he would gain a more lucrative contract. Every player has this right, but the bitter notion originates from the player’s regular injuries throughout his career, while the club stood by him and showed remarkable loyalty to him. His apparent lack of immediate committal rang hollow for many fans, and asked questions of his desire to remain at the club, and to repay faith shown in him.
It has been argued his lack of immediate signature was due to clever foresight – possibly given the shambolic nature of the club under PLG, Burke felt it better for his career to see how the land lay over time, rather than immediately commit to the new manager and the club if he conceived of continued internal strife.
Nevertheless, whatever side is taken, his form must immediately improve given his abject recent displays.
posted by RangersMedia @ 9:52 PM
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