Inside Rangers' 'deal of the century' to sign Glen Kamara from Dundee

Early days or not, Scott Arfield spoke with absolute conviction when assessing his new midfield colleague Glen Kamara in early 2019.

The Finnish international had already impressed his teammates with the way he effortlessly slipped into life at the training ground.

Footballers know pretty quickly when a new boy looks the part, and in the signing from Dundee, the squad’s experienced professionals recognised a serious talent.

It’s hard to believe now given the impact the former Arsenal kid has made since, but there weren’t many pundits who predicted he’d force his way into first-team reckoning with such sustained elan.

In fact, there were some, such as former Dundee defender Lee Wilkie who were hostile to his chances of success saying: “I don’t think he’s good enough.”

Two and a half years on, having strutted his stuff as an established star at Euro 2020, he is an established first-team pick and someone Steven Gerrard has urged the club to tie down on a longer deal.

With two years left on the contract he signed on arrival it seems likely this summer could end with a decision over his long-term future.

At this juncture, his value is at its peak, but another season in Light Blue where a contract remains ink-free will see it diminish greatly - improving the negotiating hand of suitors.

Rangers have long made it clear that one of the “four pillars” of their business plan is effective player trading and that means selling established stars at the right time.

And nobody’s sale for big money would be a bigger validation of the policy than Kamara, the man who arrived for the bargain price of just £50,000.

A clear talent

John Hughes is a man who loves a classy footballer. So when an extended sabbatical from management saw him taking in a game one sun-drenched afternoon at Dens Park, he was taken aback by the young midfielder strutting his stuff with a poise that seemed slightly alien to the surroundings.

Enthused, Hughes sought out then-boss Neil McCann to find out exactly where this diamond had been unearthed. When it emerged Kamara was an Arsenal youth product, Hughes wasn’t surprised.

“You could see the way he looked after the ball,” he said. “He’s a total footballer.

Glen Kamara at Dundee

“Give him the ball. He’s got the side mirrors on. He’s always scanning, never gives it away. He turns it over and says to his teammates ‘if you are struggling, give me it, if you lose it, I will get it back.’ He’s a manager’s dream.

“He’s my kind of player. Everybody thinks ‘we need to run and dribble with it’. He’s got that in his locker but he just keeps turning the ball over.

“He keeps it simple and he never looks flustered. That’s a sign. He looks like he’s got time.

“Other players look they are in a hurry all the time. Kamara doesn’t. And that’s the sign of a good footballer.”

And while Dundee and McCann did sterling work picking him up for free, Hughes, who has since faced Kamara as Ross County manager last season, reckons Rangers deserve huge credit for identifying the player as one who could improve title challengers - especially given Dundee were struggling at the time and Kamara wasn’t always a first-team pick.

He said: “Whoever has gone and got him into Rangers - what a job they have done.

“You could sell him now for real, real good money.

“So to get that kind of player for £50k, develop him, put the work into him – what a bit of business that is. It’s the best bit of business in Scotland for a number of years.”

The Dundee Story

It’s a bit of business the man who sold him, Jim McIntyre, isn’t keen to expand upon.

Asked to discuss the transfer, the former striker wasn’t open to presenting his side of events.

A polite but clipped response was as much as he was prepared to give away, suggesting John Nelms is the man to talk to.

The Rangers Review approached Dundee for comment relating to the transfer but nobody was available.

Given the player, who ended up in Govan in 2019, now has a transfer market value well in excess of £10m it’s probably not hard to imagine why.

It will be galling for those in power at Dens to have had a player of such capability depart for so little, especially given the amount they were compensated for the deal.

And the Rangers Review can reveal the money received is even more brutal than has previously been reported, with the club ending up with roughly half of the £50k fee paid by Rangers.

The rest was swallowed up by contractual obligations, with Arsenal amongst those due a chunk.

It’s easy to criticise such a deal with hindsight, but the Dees were in a difficult position. The player’s contract was dwindling down to its final months, and he was free to discuss moves to other clubs. Kamara himself told the club he wanted to explore his options and he was a player that despite his obvious talent, was being left out for some games by the manager.

A source who worked at Dundee at the time said: “Jim McIntyre just didn’t rate him. It’s as simple as that really.

“He signed Martin Woods, he was his man, and he was always going to get picked.

“He was left out a few times for key games and that had nothing to do with John Nelms or anybody else.

“I think Jim made up his mind early on that he didn’t fancy him.

“Glen was very close to the previous manager Neil McCann and I don’t think that helped.”

And Rangers weren’t the only club keeping close tabs on the gifted Finn.

“Swansea and another English league club were very interested but there were loads of teams sniffing about.

“When he signed a pre-contract with Rangers, the club told him to stay away.

"It was a mad situation as he was Dundee's best player.

“We ended up playing Darren O’Dea in central midfield for a game where Glen sat at home twiddling his thumbs.”

Kamara ticks Rangers' box

Dundee’s loss was very much Rangers’ gain.

Mark Allen, Rangers’ director of football from 2017 until late 2019, was across all the potential talent that might be capable of making an impact at Ibrox as Steven Gerrard looked to add some nitro to his extensive rebuild.

In an attempt to cut out the expensive missteps that had blighted previous regimes, Allen commissioned a profile of what a Rangers player should look like.

Taking into account the style of the league in Scotland and the tactical, technical, physical and mental elements of each position, it acted as a guide for any player who might be available.

And Kamara quickly stood out as an individual who ticked a lot of boxes.

“He came onto my radar very early into his tenure” the amiable Welshman admitted.

“As I got to see the teams in the Scottish league you make a mental note of where you think the players are.

“Seeing Glen playing for Dundee it took me back because I was aware of his academy background at Arsenal.

“It just struck me that Neil McCann’s team were one who tried to play football and you could see that Glenn was a bit of an orchestrator in terms of that midfield role.

“He’s very comfortable on the ball, has a great eye for a pass and sees the pictures so all of the things you look for in midfield players.

“He seemed someone who could play at a higher level. He was someone on my radar from very early doors and not just mine but the recruitment team.

“That was shared with the management team early doors and the rest as they say is history.”

While the majority of the credit for the Kamara signing will go to the man with the final say, Steven Gerrard, the Ibrox model for identifying talent was very much a team effort.

Allen explained: “It starts with sitting down and evaluating where we thought we need some change or fresh faces.

“I would sit down with the manager and recruitment team and just talk generally about where we think we could improve.

“From there we would compile a target in terms of positions first. We did a lot of work on in possession, out of possession, in transitions, to establish the profile of what we believed was a Rangers player.

“What would happen then is we would target certain positions and we’d use three methods: data, video and eyes to go after targets we thought fulfilled the profile we were looking for.

“That gave us a shortlist and my role was to sit down with Steven and his management team to review them.

“I’d say: ‘here are three central midfielders', for example, all different characteristics in terms of where they are playing right now, but nevertheless fit the profile of what we think we are looking for.

“We then discuss them, the plusses, the minuses, the merits and settle on a preferred target and then pursue them. My job was then to get that over the line.”

Kamara in action

Clearly, a lot of painstaking work goes on behind the scenes to ensure a transfer has a chance of working but the fee eventually paid still stands out.

It begs the question: how on earth did Rangers secure the player for such a paltry sum?

“When you do your homework on players you understand when someone’s contract expires,” says a grinning Allen.

“We knew Glen’s contract was expiring at the end of that year.

“Our intention, which we were allowed to do, was to get a pre-agreement for the following season.

“After the timelines in January when you are allowed to go and sort these things, we sorted that for Glen.

“Without putting figures on it, because I think it’s unfair and I don’t want to rub salt in the wounds on these type of things, I think the selling club has to face up to something or nothing based on when he was signed.

“Our intention was to take him when his contract expired. Obviously, an opportunity came to take him earlier while he was still in contract and the sum negotiated was a reflection of how long he had left on his contract.”

Despite Dundee’s position between a rock and a hard place, the deal was still a complex one to finalise with the clubs haggling over the fine details up until the final hours of the transfer window.

With Rangers having comfort in knowing the player would be arriving on a pre-contract anyway, they held a strong hand in the negotiation.

Allen recalled: “It went to the wire. I remember vividly I went out for dinner with Steven on transfer deadline day.

“We were sat in a restaurant just waiting for news. We knew we had put a bid in and we were waiting for a response. I can’t remember the exact time, but it wasn’t an early one. We were all delighted to get it over the line and move on.”

Instant Impression

Once signed Kamara wasted no time in making an impression.

While he didn’t make the squad for games against Aberdeen and St Mirren, he made his debut in a 0-0 draw against St Johnstone and proceeded to start in 13 of the next 14 fixtures.

The way he settled into life at a bigger club was startling, especially given it often takes players time to adapt to the rigours of life at the country’s biggest club.

Players as talented and ultimately successful as Mark Hateley and Borna Barisic can attest to the time sometimes needed to acclimatise to Glasgow life.

“That’s the one factor with recruiting for Rangers,” points out Allen. “You never know how quickly they will settle.

“I think everybody knows the environment is taxing, to say the least, and you have to roll your sleeves up and get on with it.

“You have to experience a tension you have never had before for some players.

“Glen did take to it and settled in remarkably well.

“I remember his first training session, he just looked at ease with the ball and I think players, they are not daft, they see straight away what’s on offer and I think everybody sensed Glen was a footballer.

“All credit must go to the coaching staff for bringing his game out and developing and coaching him.”

Now head of Swansea’s academy in his native land, Allen still retains a lot of affection for the club he sometimes has to stop himself referring to as “we”.

When he looks back over his spell in Govan he's content that a number of the signings on his watch have turned out to be successful.

But at £50k Kamara is surely the best?

“I think there are a number (of players) in there I’m quite pleased and excited about and will go on and express themselves,” he smiles. “And I think the fans have realised there is quality in them.”

“But Glen, certainly in terms of value, is right up there.”

When the time is right for the Finn to move on, it will be interesting to measure any deal in multiples of the original fee.

And while normal transfers would see a doubling or trebling your money as business done well, don’t be surprised to see a departing deal that multiples that famous £50k by a factor of several hundred.