Philippe Clement will see a few members of the Glasgow Rangers squad depart Ibrox at the end of the season, as six are all out of contract.
Kemar Roofe, Jon McLaughlin, Borna Barisic, Leon Balogun, Ryan Jack, and John Lundstram are the players who, at this current moment in time, will be leaving Glasgow for nothing.
The good news is that Clement will be freeing up a large chunk of the wage budget with the departures of these six first-team players, giving him some flexibility during the upcoming summer transfer window.
The bad news? There will be gaps that need to be filled, and the Belgian has to get things right off the park when it comes to potential signings, as the Light Blues cannot afford to waste even more money in the transfer market.
Several of his predecessors have done exactly that. Michael Beale splashed the cash on Sam Lammers and Cyriel Deesers, while Giovanni van Bronckhorst brought in players such as Ben Davies and Antonio Colak.
Even Steven Gerrard was prone to the odd mistake or two, especially during his first couple of seasons in charge.
The former Liverpool captain signed 14 players in his first summer transfer window in charge of the club, but it was Eros Grezda who turned out to be the biggest waste, despite the winger being tipped to generate a massive profit for the Gers.
How much Rangers paid for Eros Grezda
Gerrard was able to assess his squad early during his reign at Ibrox as they had to play four rounds of qualifiers to reach the Europa League group stages.
Against NK Osijek in the second round of qualifiers, Rangers prevailed 2-1 on aggregate, but Gerrard had his eye on left-back Borna Barisic, eventually bringing the defender to Ibrox a few weeks later.
Player
Club signed from
Connor Goldson
Brighton and Hove Albion
Borna Barisic
NK Osijek
Eros Grezda
NK Osijek
Nikola Katic
Slaven Belupo
Jamie Murphy
Brighton and Hove Albion
Kyle Lafferty
Hearts
Jon Flanagan
Liverpool
Scott Arfield
Burnley
Allan McGregor
Hull City
Joe Worrall
Nottingham Forest
Umar Sadiq
AS Roma
Ryan Kent
Liverpool
Ovie Ejaria
Liverpool
Lassana Coulibaly
Angers
Via Transfermarkt
The manager raided the Croatian side again before the window closed, signing Eros Grezda just hours before the transfer deadline for a transfer fee reported to be around £2m as Gerrard looked to find a replacement for Jamie Murphy, who had suffered a serious injury during the early stages of the league season.
"He is a very dangerous player and while you never want to see anyone injured, we are thankful he wasn't available to play against us," Gerrard said after Grezda was announced as his 14th signing of the summer. "He is an excellent player and the fans will love him because he can contribute in the final third."
On the surface, it looked as though it could be a shrewd investment, especially as he was highly praised by Albanian journalist Ermal Kuka.
Eros Grezda’s statistics at Rangers
“I was surprised they were able to get him for such a low price. I think that is a real steal,” said Kuka after Grezda had sealed a move to Glasgow.
“In two years, I can easily see them selling him for £20m, because it is different when you buy from Croatia or you buy from a club like Rangers.”
A tad hyperbolic, but it appeared Gerrard had signed a player who could add something different to the Rangers side.
Unfortunately, it didn’t work out for the Albanian winger in Scotland. He ended up playing just 17 times for the Light Blues during his maiden campaign, scoring twice.
In what was his first start, Grezda scored two goals and grabbed an assist during a 7-1 thumping of Motherwell at Ibrox and things certainly looked bright.
The goals should have been a major confidence boost for the winger, but his next ten games saw the player fail to register any goal contributions whatsoever.
It was the beginning of the end for Grezda as he failed to make a single appearance in the first half of the following campaign, resorting to playing for the B team in the Challenge Cup.
His Ibrox career was all but over after an alleged spitting incident during a youth team game against Ballymena United in September 2019.
By the start of 2020, he had rejoined Osijek for an undisclosed fee after less than 18 months in Glasgow, with the move costing the club £1m per goal in what was another expensive mistake.
What Eros Grezda did after leaving Rangers
The winger spent another year and a half at his former club, scoring just one goal in 13 games before enduring a succession of moves in which he failed to really settle down properly and make use of his talent.
Spells at Zalaegerszeg, HNK Sibenik, Manisa, FK Partizani and NK Rudes saw him play a total of just 62 matches in the space of four seasons, struggling to go on a consistent run of matches.
Grezda left his latest club, NK Rudes, in April, and is now without a club, aged just 29, having wasted his potential with a series of underwhelming moves.
Gerrard had a shocker by splashing out £2m on the player during his first few months in charge, clearly showing his inexperience as a manager in the process.
Hopefully, Clement won't replicate these mistakes made by previous Rangers managers as he seeks to build a squad which can not only challenge Celtic for domestic supremacy, but also make inroads in Europe as the Light Blues seek to replicate their run to the Europa League final achieved just two years ago.
The 50-year-old made a couple of solid signings in the January transfer window, which gives an indication of the direction he will be going in when the summer window opens.
Establishing a player trading program appears to be the aim of the game, with Clement eyeing up young talents for peanuts who could develop in Scotland, before moving on for vast profits.
This is how Celtic have conducted their business of late, and they stand on the cusp of winning three titles in a row.
If real change is to be seen at Ibrox, Clement must ship out the underperformers and bring in youngsters with a point to prove.
Where Are They Now
Your star player or biggest flop has left the club but what are they doing in the present day? This article is part of Football FanCast's Where Are They Now series.