Rangers face a genuinely steep financial climb if they want to bring Scotland international Lewis Ferguson back to Scottish football this summer, with Bologna’s valuation of the midfielder threatening to put the move out of reach — even with a significant cash injection potentially on the way from Nicolas Raskin’s departure.
Ferguson has been linked with an exit from Bologna, and Rangers have emerged as one of the clubs credited with interest in bringing him to Ibrox. The problem is straightforward: Bologna have placed a £17 million valuation on their 26-year-old midfielder, a figure that immediately raises serious questions about whether Rangers are realistically able to compete for his signature.
It isn’t just the transfer fee giving Ibrox chiefs pause, either. Any deal would also need to account for wages commensurate with a player valued at that level, adding a further financial burden on top of an already substantial fee. Between the size of Bologna’s asking price and the salary demands that would likely follow, a reunion between Ferguson and former Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes — who now finds himself in the Rangers hotseat — looks increasingly unlikely, despite reported financial backing from ownership figures Andrew Cavenagh and 49ers Enterprises, who haven’t shied away from investing significantly in the club’s rebuild.
## Putting the Fee in Historical Context
To understand just how significant a £17 million outlay would be for Rangers, it helps to look at the club’s spending history. Tore André Flo’s move from Chelsea back in November 2000, a £12 million deal, has stood as the club’s record transfer fee for a quarter of a century. Names like Ryan Kent and Michael Ball also feature among the club’s more notable historical outlays, but it was only last summer that Rangers finally broke new ground, with Youssef Chermiti’s arrival becoming the most expensive signing at Ibrox in 25 years.
Even accounting for that recent record-breaking business, a move for Ferguson would represent an entirely different scale of spending. Rangers would need to pay more than double what they spent to land Chermiti just to meet Bologna’s valuation for the Scotland international — a jump that underlines just how ambitious, and financially demanding, this particular pursuit would be.
## Scepticism From Scottish Football Media
Not everyone believes the numbers can be made to work. Scottish football journalist Roger Hanlan was blunt in his assessment of the deal’s prospects, suggesting on the Go Ballistic YouTube show on 6 July that the transfer fee alone likely signals the end of any realistic chance of a move. Hanlan pointed out that Rangers’ £8 million outlay for Chermiti — which could eventually rise to £10 million — already represented their biggest fee in 25 years, making it hard to see how the club could justify going more than double that figure for Ferguson this summer.
He acknowledged that incoming funds from Raskin’s sale, along with potential departures elsewhere in the squad, could help bridge some of that gap. Even so, his overall conclusion was that a £17 million outlay, combined with wages to match, would simply be too rich a deal for any Scottish club to countenance right now — whether that’s Rangers, Celtic, or anyone else in the country. Hanlan did leave room for the possibility he could be proven wrong, but his framing made clear he sees this as a long shot rather than a deal edging toward completion.
Despite that scepticism, there are still routes by which Ibrox chiefs could theoretically make the numbers work. One potential lever is interest from Bologna themselves in a different Rangers player — with the Italian club reportedly keen on midfielder Connor Barron. If Rangers were able to include Barron as part of any structured deal, it could meaningfully reduce the net cost of bringing Ferguson to Scotland, effectively using outgoing interest in one player to offset the incoming valuation of another.
There’s also a broader financial picture to consider. Rangers have already committed a combined £7 million this summer on goalkeeper Ivor Pandur and defender Ross McCrorie, and reporting suggests there remains a reasonable amount of additional spending power still available. That’s partly down to a £16 million share issue approved by Cavenagh back in March, specifically designed to fund further investment in the playing squad, and partly down to the anticipated profit Rangers stand to make from selling Raskin.
On top of that, the club could look to move on fringe squad members who currently occupy space on the wage bill without contributing significantly on the pitch — freeing up further room, both financially and in terms of squad numbers, that could theoretically be redirected toward funding a marquee midfield addition like Ferguson.
Taken together, the picture is one of genuine interest colliding with genuine financial constraints. Rangers have shown, through both their recent spending and their willingness to back McInnes in the transfer market, that they’re prepared to invest seriously this summer. Whether that ambition stretches as far as doubling their record transfer outlay for a player valued at £17 million — even with Raskin’s sale, a Barron makeweight, and other squad trimming factored in — remains to be seen. For now, the weight of expert opinion suggests it’s a deal more likely to fall through than come together, even if Rangers’ hierarchy clearly haven’t ruled it out entirely.
