Previous Glasgow Rangers boss Steven Gerrard will go down in the history books as the man who delivered league title number 55, a full decade after the club’s previous Premiership title triumph in 2011.
Despite his acrimonious exit – departing for Aston Villa during the middle of the season – his tenure is looked back upon fondly by the Ibrox faithful, with the club emerging back onto the European scene.
His record in the transfer market was hit or miss, however. Ryan Kent, Joe Aribo and Ianis Hagi have all proved to be massive hits, yet these moves were offset by the former Liverpool captain signing some rather average players, including Eros Grezda, Jordan Jones and Juninho Bacuna.
One of his worst signings, especially considering the big financial outlay, was that of Cedric Itten, and he just couldn’t get a regular run in the starting XI under Gerrard, costing the club precious funds.
How much did Cedric Itten cost Rangers?
The Swiss striker joined the Light Blues in 2020 for a fee reported to be around £3m, turning out to be one of Gerrard’s more extravagant purchases during his tenure.
He scored 20 goals in 36 appearances for FC St Gallen the season prior to joining Rangers and with Alfredo Morelos and Jermain Defoe the only real out-and-out strikers at the club, it was clear more firepower was required.
Unfortunately, he didn’t repeat those heroics in Scotland, scoring just six times in 37 matches during his debut campaign, with the majority of his appearances coming from the bench to replace crowd favourite Morelos.
Despite securing a league winners medal, Itten joined Bundesliga side Greuther Furth on loan for the 2021/2022 season in a hope that he could boost his confidence with journalist Josh Bunting claiming he had “struggled for game-time at Ibrox” while his spell in Germany yielded just two goals before he was recalled by Giovanni van Bronckhorst in January.
His efforts to prove himself to the Dutchman fell way short, netting twice in eight matches, and he was soon on his way out of Ibrox in a £1.5m deal to join BSC Young Boys.
Overall, the player rinsed the club of around £4.4m in total, a sum that includes his initial transfer fee plus an alarming £1.4m earned in wages across a rather underwhelming 95-week spell in Glasgow.
This money could have been utilised elsewhere, and hopefully, Michael Beale will learn from his predecessor's mistakes in the transfer market.
