The Rangers Review speaks to the brains behind the Scotland's Coefficient X account to detail Philippe Clement's route to the Champions League.

RANGERS FINISH 2ND IN THE SPFL

Rangers have now officially failed in their primary objective – to win back the Scottish Premiership title. Phil Clement came in and undoubtedly improved them for large periods – they were 11 points behind Celtic when they took the field on 3rd December at home to St Mirren, and at one stage they became the bookies' favourites to win the league as they regained top spot, but again they have ultimately fallen short.

WHY IS CHAMPIONS LEAGUE INCOME SO CRUCIAL?

Rangers’ wage bill for year ending June 2023 was £64m. £4m MORE than Celtic - for the first time in years. The squad was overhauled last summer and so that may have changed slightly for year ending June 2024, but in a period where wages have the biggest correlation to success (PSG, Real Madrid and Man City have the biggest wage budgets in Europe) it will be worrying for Rangers fans who will rightly feel they are not getting bang for their hard-earned buck. Last summer, the board backed Michael Beale with a £21m summer spend – which was a £13.1m net spend after some money was recouped through the sales of Kamara, Colak and Sakala.

A net loss of -£4.2m was reported last year – despite raising £23.6m in player sales through Aribo and Bassey, as well as receiving £18.5m as they returned to the Champions League. To still report a small loss after such a stellar year of £84m revenue is ominous for the Rangers fans as it means the likelihood of an even bigger loss reported towards the end of this year, while they look on with envy at the £33m record profit being recorded across the city last year.

Celtic will be the last beneficiaries of the automatic Champions League slot by winning this year’s title as Scotland has slid to 11th in the coefficient rankings – and likely to fall further next season. Although if Rangers win next season’s title they would still receive automatic entry to the goldmine of the Champions League due to their own club coefficient; but it is almost a moot point at this stage as what is more important is the major rebuild that – by the manager’s own admission – is required this summer.

Although none in the same ballpark as the transfer fee Celtic will likely receive for Matt O’Riley, Rangers have some sellable assets that Clement will look to move on to fund new signings. Fringe and players out on loan such as Sam Lammers and Ianis Hagi will almost certainly be sold and if an eight-figure bid is received for excellent keeper Jack Butland then almost certainly he will be out the door too.

The transfer window closes 4 days after the Champions League Playoff round. Although those qualifiers will have a massive bearing on Rangers financial situation, their fans will hope that the investment and recruitment is all complete well before that point, to maximise their chances of reaching the Champions League Phase. It won’t be an easy task, but the pound signs on offer are huge.

THE FINANCES ON OFFER

The €3.317bn UEFA prize money for the competing clubs is split across the three competitions 74.38% (€2.467bn) to Champions League, 17.02% (€565m) to Europa League & 8.6% (€285m) to Conference League. Rangers absolutely want to be dining at the big table that will be sharing in the 75% slice of the pie.

The new format Champions League revenue is broken down into three streams:

Starting fee: (equal for all 36 clubs): €18.62m
Value Pillar: €1.28m-€46m per club (36 shares)
Performance: €2.1m per win & €0.7m per draw; €0.275m for finishing 36th & €9.9m for finishing 1st

Should Rangers get through two rounds of qualifying, their high club coefficient (they are the 26th ranked side in Europe) will see them rank significantly higher than the 59th ranked side in Europe – rivals Celtic - in the 36 team “Value Pillar” ranking (broken down in detail shortly)

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