31st August 2025; Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow, Scotland; Scottish Premiership Football, Rangers versus Celtic; Paraag Marathe and Andrew Cavanagh
The starting gun has been fired on the great Ibrox January sell off.
The Daily Record has freshened up their well used template and Abracadabra Olwethu Makhanya is a £30m signing target for Sunderland and Brentford!
‘Keeping tabs’ is the phrase used by Andy Newport as he drools over the latest superstar to emerge from Ibrox.
Earlier this year Arsenal and Bayer Leverkusen were keeping tabs on Manny Fernandez. We know how that claim ended.
In time served Record fashion a third party is used to push the story.
Who better than Richard Gough to talk up Makhanya, Goughie just happens to be a close friend of Rob Moore who is the agent to the Ibrox star.
THE DAILY RECORD’S IBROX TRANSFER TEMPLATE
It is eight years since the Record was involved in the mystery Chinese bids for Alfredo Morelos.
Print circulation has now crashed to around 25,000 but undeterred the Record continues to serve up some classic tales to their army of readers.
Covering their phone call with Gough The Record reports:
“Maka has come from Stellenbosch and the MLS, but he’s just walked in to an environment as hostile as that like nothing’s bothering him. He’s still got a long way to go, obviously, but I think he’s got a good mentality. When we spoke, I said to him, ‘Maka, I’m a fellow South African – I told him how I was brought up there – if you need to phone me, if there’s anything you feel like you need to chat about, just call. I’ll be here for you.”
Moore may want his young client to stay where he is but already the rumour mill is starting to spin into action around Makhanya, with talk of Brentford and Sunderland being among the clubs keeping tabs on his progress.
“I’m sure there will be already clubs looking at him already,” said Gough. “But in all honesty, I’m not sure we can stop that. When I played at Rangers, we were in the top three in British football all the time. Top of the food chain. The money I was getting was top class and I was at the club I wanted to be at.
“But these days, the Scottish Premiership is no longer a competition where the top players want to play. It’s the English Premier League. So if I was a young boy at 22, I’d be aiming for England. But hopefully if Maka does make that move, he makes it when he’s ready. We all know if someone offers, let’s say £30m in January, Rangers can’t turn that down.”
EXCLUSIVE! ?? I know Olwethu Makhanya’s agent – this is his Rangers transfer masterplan as January calls loom
https://t.co/jVJENAL49P https://t.co/6WRwoXuxqB
— Daily Record Sport (@Record_Sport) October 20, 2026
We all know the substance of the fabled Ibrox transfer rumour mill.
Every season someone is highlighted for the treatment.
Morelos and Ryan Kent left as free agents, Todd Cantwell went to Blackburn for a token fee, Ianis Hagi didn’t join Manchester City with Connor Goldson paid off to join ARIS in Cyprus.
Despite starring at the World Cup for Belgium the only offer made for Nico Raskin was to take him to Turkey on loan for the season.
A £5m bid for Fernandez or Makahanya would represent great business for Andrew Cavenagh. A rare transfer profit.
But with the Record hyping up anyone capable of completing a pass as a £30m bargain likened to Virgil van Dijk there is no chance of the Ibrox board getting away with ‘cut price’ transfers.
Joe these people are living in a winter wounder land ffs, Makanya isn’t worth a fraction of that and the huns are lapping up all this bull s***t hook,line and sinker……won’t put to much attention on what that scumbag Gough has to say especially after his carry on in Glasgow and his like for…….., if i was Cough I’d be expecting a letter from the taxman on tax owed to the Scottish people.