Every club that buys young players with the intention of selling them eventually faces the same uncomfortable moment. The plan works so well that the asset becomes too valuable to keep. For Rangers, that moment may be arriving earlier than anyone expected. Olwethu Makhanya, the 22-year-old South Africa centre-back who joined for around £3 million this summer, has been so impressive that clubs in England, Italy and Spain are sending scouts to watch him. Sources have told Football Insider that Rangers could be forced into a sale if a big offer arrives, with his valuation now reported to be several times what the club paid. It is a flattering problem, but it is still a problem, and it raises some difficult questions about how Rangers should handle it.
Begin with the numbers, because they explain the speculation. Makhanya joined Rangers in the summer and, according to CIES Football Observatory data reported by Football Insider, his valuation has risen to around £12 million, meaning his value has quadrupled within weeks of his arrival. Other estimates are lower, and the figure in the headline you gave me, £9 million, sits somewhere in the middle. The range itself is revealing. Valuations of young players are never precise, and they depend on the model, the market and the buyer’s appetite. What they have in common is direction. Every serious estimate puts Makhanya’s worth well above the £3 million that Rangers paid, which is exactly the kind of profit the club’s recruitment model is designed to produce.
The reasons for his rise are not hard to find. Before joining Rangers, he began his senior career at Stellenbosch in South Africa and then made 42 league appearances for Philadelphia Union in the United States before earning his South Africa debut in May. That is a respectable apprenticeship, but it is not the kind of background that usually attracts Premier League scouts. What has changed is the combination of his performances and the context. A tall, quick, comfortable defender who plays in a team that wins matches will always draw attention, and Makhanya has done that. He has been a regular in a back line that kept clean sheets in most of Rangers’ recent victories, and his name has appeared on scouting lists across Europe s a result.
The interest is concrete. According to Football Insider, Brentford and Sunderland sent scouts to watch him during Rangers’ 3-1 victory over Kilmarnock, and clubs in Italy and Spain have also shown interest. A separate Football Insider report names Bournemouth and Sunderland as the English clubs that have sent representatives to Ibrox. The details differ slightly between reports, which is typical of transfer coverage, but the picture is consistent. Several clubs with serious resources are watching a defender who has been at Rangers for only a few months. For a club that bought him as a young player with potential, rather than as a finished article, that is a significant endorsement of the scouting and the development work behind the signing.
The question is what Rangers should do about it, and the answer is complicated by their financial position. The club has made clear that it is reluctant to sell any of its leading players, and Derek McInnes is believed to be happy with the shape of his squad. But there is also an understanding that the club operates under constraints. Football Insider reports that Rangers are prepared to act in January if they are forced into a big sale, and that significant departures would push them into the market. The same report says that Rangers are expecting a quiet window, which suggests that the club does not want to be in a position where it has to replace a key player in the middle of the season. Selling Makhanya would be a decision with consequences in more than one direction.
Money is a large part of the story. Rangers have missed out on European football this season, following defeats to Jagiellonia and Jablonec in the qualifying rounds, and that has left a gap in their income. Former Celtic player Jim Duffy, speaking on Clyde 1’s Superscoreboard, said that the club will have to make up several million pounds in other ways, possibly by selling players. He named Makhanya and Emmanuel Fernandez as two possible candidates. That is one analyst’s opinion rather than a club statement, but it reflects a widely held view that the loss of European revenue puts pressure on the transfer budget. A club that cannot rely on Europa League income needs to find money elsewhere, and player trading is the most obvious source.
That makes the idea of a profitable sale more attractive. A defender bought for £3 million who can be sold for £12 million, £15 million or more represents a substantial return on investment. Former Aberdeen chief executive Keith Wyness has suggested that a fee of £20 million could be enough to prise Makhanya away from Rangers next summer. If that figure is realistic, it would put him among the most valuable sales in the club’s recent history, close to Calvin Bassey’s move to Ajax for more than £19 million. For a club that wants to balance the books while remaining competitive, a transfer of that size would be hard to turn down, particularly when the replacement market is rich with young defenders available at lower prices.
On the other hand, there are strong arguments for patience. Makhanya’s contract gives Rangers a powerful position. He signed a deal running until 2030, with an additional option year reported in the manager’s comments, which means that the club is under no pressure to sell. A defender with more than four years left on his contract is a protected asset, and the buying club must pay whatever the seller demands. Rangers can afford to wait for the right offer, and they can afford to say no to bids that fall short. That is a very different situation from the one they face with Nicolas Raskin, whose contract situation is more precarious, and it should give the board confidence in its negotiating stance.
The sporting case for keeping him is equally strong. McInnes has built his team around a defensive solidity that has produced a series of clean sheets, and Makhanya is a central part of that. Replacing a starting centre-back in January is notoriously difficult, because the market is thin and the best players are rarely available. The reports suggest that Ben Godfrey and Fernandez are the alternatives in the squad, and Fernandez was caught out of position for both goals in the draw at Dundee. A team chasing a title cannot afford to weaken its defence, and the manager would no doubt prefer to keep his best defenders for the rest of the season.
There is also the question of his development. Makhanya is only 22, and he has been at Rangers for a matter of months. A player who improves quickly in his first season can often become significantly more valuable in his second, as he gains experience and consistency. Selling him now would mean realising a profit before he reaches his peak, and the club might regret it if he develops into a top-class defender. The Yahoo Sports analysis of the situation makes this point directly, arguing that another strong campaign could increase his market value while giving Rangers greater stability at the back. A rushed sale would serve little purpose unless the money and the replacement genuinely improve the squad.
That argument has a flip side, of course. Young players can also stall, suffer injuries or lose form, and the club that waits too long may find that its asset has lost value. The recruitment model that Rangers have adopted, buying young players, developing them and selling them at a profit, depends on selling at the right moment. A player who is at his peak value may not stay there, and a club that holds on too long risks missing the window. It is a delicate judgement, and there is no formula for getting it right. What matters is that the club has a clear view of what it wants to achieve, and that it is prepared to act when the numbers make sense.
The human dimension should not be ignored. Football Insider reports that Rangers fear Makhanya could have his head turned by growing interest from Premier League clubs, and that there are concerns about a move to English football in 2027. That is a common worry when a young player attracts attention from bigger leagues. A defender who is told that Premier League clubs are scouting him may start to think about his next move, and it can affect his focus and his relationship with the club. McInnes will need to manage the situation carefully, making sure that Makhanya feels valued and that his ambitions are discussed openly. A player who is happy and motivated is less likely to push for a move, and the manager has a good track record of handling such situations.
The structure of any deal also matters. If Rangers do decide to sell, they have several ways of protecting their position. They can demand a high upfront fee, include add-ons and sell-on clauses that provide extra income if the player moves again, and even negotiate a loan-back arrangement that allows him to stay until the end of the season. These mechanisms are common in modern football, and they allow a selling club to capture more of the value it has created. A well-structured deal can turn a good sale into a great one, and Rangers have shown in the past that they understand the details. The board will want to be thorough in any negotiation.
It is also worth considering how a sale would be received by supporters. Fans accept that selling players is part of the modern game, but they also want to see the club compete for trophies. A sale in January, in the middle of a title race, would be controversial unless the club could demonstrate that it was reinvesting the money wisely and that the team would not be weakened. A sale in the summer, after the season has finished, would be easier to justify. That is one reason why the club may prefer to wait, and why it has been careful to say that it does not want to sell. The timing of any move will be as important as the price.
The broader context is the club’s strategy under the current ownership. The 49ers Enterprises-led group and chairman Andrew Cavenagh have prioritised financial stability and a recruitment model based on player trading, and that approach has already produced several profitable sales. It also means that the board is under pressure to deliver, both on the pitch and on the balance sheet. A big sale of a young defender would fit comfortably within that framework, and the reports suggest that the club would be prepared to accept an offer that reflects his true value. What they want to avoid is being forced to sell at a discount, or to lose a player for nothing when his contract runs down.
It is worth pointing out that Makhanya’s case is not the same as Raskin’s. The Belgium midfielder is 25 and has a contract that expires in 2028, which makes his situation more urgent. Makhanya is 22 and signed until 2030, so there is no ticking clock. That gives Rangers the luxury of choice, and it means that any sale will be a decision rather than a necessity. The club can afford to be selective, to wait for an offer that meets its valuation and to say no to anything less. That is a strong position, and it should help to ensure that the eventual outcome is a good one.
There is a final consideration, which is what the interest tells us about Rangers’ progress. A club that can buy a young defender for £3 million and see him attract Premier League scouts within months is clearly doing something right. The recruitment team has identified a player with genuine potential, the coaching staff has developed him and the manager has given him the chance to play. That combination is hard to achieve, and it is the foundation of a sustainable model. If Rangers can repeat the process with other players, they will be able to compete with clubs that have much greater resources, which has always been the key challenge for Scottish football.
For McInnes, the immediate task is to keep the team focused. A match against St Johnstone at Ibrox this afternoon is a chance to restore momentum after the Dundee draw, and Makhanya will be expected to play a central role. The manager’s job is to make sure that the speculation does not become a distraction, and that the squad remains united behind a common goal. He has handled similar situations before, with Raskin in particular, and the evidence suggests that he knows how to keep a squad focused. If the team continues to win, the questions about transfers will take care of themselves.
In the end, the decision about whether to sell Makhanya will come down to the offer. If a club in a top-five league comes in with a bid in the region of £15 million or more, Rangers will have to consider it seriously, particularly with the loss of European income. If the offer is lower, or if it comes from a club that cannot guarantee regular football, the board can say no and wait. That is the beauty of a long contract, and it is the reason the situation is a problem rather than a crisis. Rangers have the upper hand, and the key is to use it wisely.
So the story is a positive one, even if it is framed as a warning. A young defender has come from nowhere to become one of the most sought-after players in Scottish football, and his club is in a position to profit from it. Whether they do so in January, in the summer or in two years’ time is a question for the board and the manager. What is clear is that Makhanya has already repaid the faith that Rangers showed in him, and that his future will be one of the most interesting stories of the season. The club’s job now is to make sure that when he does leave, they get the best possible return, and that the team is strong enough to move on
