Barry Ferguson wants to see Billy Gilmour return to Ibrox but fears that the Tribute Act couldn’t afford the wages of the Brighton flop.
Twenty years ago Ferguson and others such as Tore Andre Flo and Ronald de Boer could move to Rangers with token wages going through the books while Dave Murray poured fortunes into off-shore trusts that were ruled as a disguised remuneration scam.
With HMRC closely watching every move inside Ibrox Douglas Park has to play things by the book which makes a move for Gilmore highly unlikely.
The midfielder has flopped at Chelsea, Norwich and Brighton but it seems that the memories of a few good passes against England at Wembley still burns brightly in Ferguson’s thoughts.
Discussing the Scotland regular, Ferguson told The Daily Record:
At 21, however, he needs to be playing more than the 10 games he’s registered this season, totalling a measly 334 minutes of club football.
That’s why I think he should consider moving on again this summer. It’s a big decision and I get he won’t want to uproot again but for his sake – and Scotland’s – he needs to find somewhere that he’s going to get regular action.
I’d love to see him back at Rangers but unfortunately I just don’t see it. Brighton got him for a bargain when they paid just over £8million to lure him from Stamford Bridge but I think you’d still be surprised by the kind of wages he’d be on and sadly I think that may scupper any hopes for an Ibrox return, even on loan.
Gilmour has started two EPL games for Brighton and came off the bench in five others.
Perhaps sevco could come up with an alternative to disguised remuneration so they could pay Gilmoreinho.
A concealed reimbursement scheme perhaps?