Rangers Set To Sell Oliver Antman To Anderlecht At A Profit As Cerny Return Mooted
Rangers are closing in on a deal to sell winger Oliver Antman to Anderlecht for £4.5million, in a transfer that will see the Ibrox club turn a tidy profit on a player who has managed just a single season in Scotland. The Belgian outfit have moved swiftly to secure his signature, catching many by surprise given how little warning there had been of concrete interest from that direction, and Rangers appear to have wasted no time in accepting an offer that solves multiple problems at once for Derek McInnes as he continues to reshape his squad ahead of Friday’s Premiership opener against Dundee United.
The numbers involved tell their own story about just how underwhelming Antman’s time at Ibrox has proven. The Finnish international arrived from Go Ahead Eagles almost exactly twelve months ago in a deal worth around £3.5million, having previously enjoyed an accomplished spell in the Eredivisie where he made 36 appearances for the Dutch side and built a reputation as a genuine wide threat. That form persuaded Rangers to move for his signature last summer, but his debut season in Scotland never got close to matching those expectations. Antman made 28 appearances under Danny Röhl in all competitions, but managed just a single goal across the entire campaign, a return that fell well short of what had been anticipated from a player brought in specifically to add pace and creativity out wide.
That underwhelming output appears to have made McInnes’ decision an easy one once he arrived in the Ibrox hotseat. The new Rangers boss made an early call that Antman would play no part in his plans going forward, and with the winger surplus to requirements, the club moved to explore the market for potential suitors. Several clubs across Europe registered interest as word spread that Antman was available, with reports out of the Netherlands suggesting FC Twente had identified him as a genuine top target as he considered a possible return to Dutch football, while Championship side Derby County were also credited with interest as they looked to bolster their own options out wide. The Rams reportedly tabled an offer in the region of £4million plus add-ons at one stage, but it was ultimately Anderlecht who moved decisively and got their business with Rangers wrapped up first, agreeing to meet the Ibrox club’s asking price in full rather than leaving any lingering uncertainty over the structure of the fee.
For Rangers, the sale represents about as clean a piece of squad business as a club could hope for in this kind of situation. Not only does it clear a player who had fallen well outside the new manager’s thinking, it also allows the Ibrox club to bank a profit of around £1million on what they originally paid for his services, while freeing up further funds to be reinvested into strengthening the group elsewhere. Antman is set to undergo his medical with Anderlecht in the coming 24 hours, with the paperwork expected to be finalised shortly afterwards, bringing an end to a brief and largely forgettable Ibrox chapter for the 24-year-old.
Attention has understandably turned quickly to who might come in to fill the gap left out wide, an area of the pitch McInnes has already identified as needing reinforcement following a pre-season in which Rangers often looked short of genuine penetration in the final third. Former loan man Vaclav Cerny, now on the books at Besiktas, has emerged as one of the leading names being considered for a permanent return to Ibrox, with the funds generated by Antman’s exit potentially going some way towards funding a deal of that nature. Cerny enjoyed a productive spell in Scotland during his previous loan stint and remains fondly regarded by supporters, meaning a return would likely be a popular one even accounting for the financial complexity of negotiating a permanent transfer for a player earning significant wages in Turkey.
The timing of the Antman sale also fits into a broader pattern of squad rationalisation that has been under way at Ibrox in recent days, with McInnes seemingly determined to move on any player who does not fit his immediate plans before turning his full attention to incoming business. Reports elsewhere have suggested Ross McCausland could be the next winger to follow Antman out of the exit door, with interest from clubs including Luton Town and Casa Pia previously mentioned in connection with the Northern Ireland international, whose own Ibrox career has similarly failed to take off since progressing through the ranks. Both McCausland and Antman are expected to be absent from Rangers’ matchday squad when McInnes’ side travel to Tannadice on Friday evening, underlining just how quickly both players have fallen out of the picture at Ibrox.
That fixture at Dundee United carries its own subplot regardless of the winger situation, with McInnes still working through the fallout of a Scottish FA suspension handed down last week. The punishment stems from comments the Rangers boss made back in May while he was still in charge of Hearts, when he described the decision to award Celtic a stoppage-time penalty against Motherwell as “disgusting,” remarks that effectively played a part in ending Hearts’ own title challenge on the final day of last season. The Scottish FA’s disciplinary panel handed McInnes a four-match touchline ban, with one of those games suspended, meaning three matches must be served with immediate effect. Rangers reacted furiously to that ruling at the time and made clear their intention to appeal, but the club had only five working days from the original decision to lodge that appeal, a window that expires today. With no realistic prospect of a hearing being arranged and concluded before Friday night’s kick-off at Tannadice, McInnes now looks set to be watching on from elsewhere as his side begin life in the new Premiership season, at least for the opening rounds of his touchline suspension, regardless of how the broader appeals process eventually plays out.
None of that, though, is likely to distract too heavily from the business Rangers are conducting out on the pitch this week. The Antman sale represents a small but meaningful piece of the wider squad reshaping McInnes has been overseeing since his arrival, following on from confirmed departures and impending exits involving the likes of John Souttar, Clinton Nsiala, Nedim Bajrami and others who have found themselves surplus to requirements as the new head coach stamps his own identity on the group. Freeing up both wages and transfer funds through sales of this nature gives Rangers greater scope to pursue further incoming targets before the window shuts, with a right-wing addition, whether that ultimately turns out to be Cerny, Amario Cozier-Duberry or another name entirely, still very much viewed as a priority area given the graft Rangers have shown in exploring alternatives throughout the summer.
For Antman himself, a move to Anderlecht offers the chance of a fresh start in a league that may better suit his attributes than the physically demanding, high-intensity nature of Scottish Premiership football proved to be. The Belgian top flight has increasingly become a competitive proving ground for emerging talent across Europe, and a switch to a club of Anderlecht’s stature gives the winger every opportunity to rebuild his reputation after a difficult twelve months in Glasgow. Rangers, meanwhile, will simply be pleased to have moved a player quickly and profitably who had no obvious route back into first-team contention under their new head coach, allowing the focus to shift fully towards incoming business as the countdown to the transfer deadline continues.
With Friday’s trip to Tannadice edging ever closer, Rangers supporters can expect further clarity in the coming days both on Antman’s exit and on the identity of any fresh arrival brought in to strengthen the right flank, while McInnes’ own immediate future on the touchline remains tied up in the ongoing fallout from his Hearts-era suspension. Whatever the final outcome of that particular saga, the early business being conducted around the fringes of the first-team squad suggests a Rangers side and coaching staff intent on moving briskly and decisively as they prepare for a season that will demand exactly that kind of clarity and conviction from the very first weekend.
