Rangers reportedly want just £3million for Scott Arfield in the summer, even though the Canada international has been one of the best players at Ibrox this season.
According to a new report by the Daily Mail, Southampton are interested in signing the 30-year-old and it is understood that Steven Gerrard will face a fight to keep hold of the former Burnley midfielder in the summer transfer window.
Letting Arfield leave Ibrox might be a good piece of business, however Rangers could be about to make a huge mistake that is just going to prove Chris Sutton right about Scottish football
WHAT DID SUTTON SAY?
Sutton believes that Scottish clubs have undervalued players in the past – a point that even most Rangers fans might agree with. As quoted by the Evening Times in January, Sutton suggested that Scottish Premiership sides are settling for fees that are well below the actual worth of players. He said: “We’ve seen so many examples over the years of the Scottish market being undervalued.” Sutton added: “There comes a time when Scottish clubs, and it’s not easy given the finances, have to dig in.” The BT Sport pundit is spot on here because we have seen Celtic cash in on players like Virgil van Dijk and Victor Wanyama for low fees in recent seasons, only for them to see their value shoot up in the Premier League. Rangers should not let Alfredo Morelos leave Ibrox in the summer for anything less than around £18million, but everyone knows that they might end up settling for a much lower fee for the Colombian just because a smaller fee like £10million would still present a massive profit and a huge boost to the Ibrox club’s bank balance.
HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO ARFIELD?
Arfield is 30-years-old, so Rangers are not going to get a Morelos-level amount of cash for the Canadian attacker. However the Gers’ £3million valuation of the former Huddersfield man is drastically short of what he is actually worth to them. Arfield has been one of the most important players at Ibrox this term. He has scored 11 goals and supplied seven assists in 42 appearances across all competitions from the midfield. In the last three league games that he has missed, Rangers have not won, even though they were winnable games against Hibernian, St Johnstone and Kilmarnock. Arfield is worth way more than £3million for them and Gerrard would struggle to replace him if he’s sold for that much. Rangers would only be proving Sutton right if they settle for £3million – and they do not want to be doing that.
INTERESTING FACT
Arfield has made a combined total of 219 appearances in the top-flight of both Scotland and England, as well as earning 13 caps for Canada.