Philippe Clement reckons Rangers and Lyon are living in ‘different worlds’ financially – and he may have a point when you weigh up the respective squads’ transfer values.
The French giants are the visitors to Ibrox tonight as both teams go looking for their second Europa League wins on the spin. According to bookies, it’s an evenly balanced tie that could go either way. Their seasons have run parallel in many ways so far, starting badly but picking up after recent results.
Boss Clement though was keen to stress it’s not a level playing field – at least where the finances are concerned. And the numbers back up that assertion. While Rangers have spent £21.6m on assembling their current squad, a big summer for Lyon which has seen the arrivals of Moussa Niakhate, Ernest Numah and Georges Mikautadze for big fees has sent their value through the roof to almost SEVEN times that.
So, how do the squads actually compare? We’ve taken a look.
Rangers
Goalkeepers
- Jack Butland (free)
- Liam Kelly (free)
- Lewis Budinauckas (academy)
Defenders
- James Tavernier (£200,000)
- Rıdvan Yilmaz (£3.5m)
- Robin Propper (£1.5m)
- John Souttar (free)
- Dujon Sterling (free)
- Jefte (£800,000)
- Neraysho Kasanwirjo (loan)
- Leon Balogun (free)
Midfielders
- Oscar Cortes (loan – £4m fee to be paid next season)
- Connor Barron (free)
- Mohamed Diomande (£4.5m)
- Nedim Bajrami (£3.4m)
- Kieran Dowell (free)
- Nicolas Raskin (£1.5m)
Attackers
- Cyriel Dessers (£4.5m)
- Tom Lawrence (free)
- Vaclav Cerny (loan)
- Hamza Igamane (£1.7m)
Total squad cost – £21.6 million
Lyon
Goalkeepers
- Lucas Perri (£2.7m)
- Remy Descamps (free)
- Justin Bengui-Joao (academy)
Defenders
- Nicolas Tagliafico (£3.5m)
- Abner Vinicius (£6.7m)
- Moussa Niakhate (£27m)
- Sael Kumbedi (£800,000)
- Clinton Mata (£4.2m)
- Warmed Omari (loan fee £420k)
- Duje Caleta-Car (£5m)
- Ainsley Maitland-Niles (free)
Midfielders
- Maxence Caqueret (academy)
- Jordan Veretout (£3.3m)
- Corentin Tolisso (free)
- Tanner Tessmann (£5m)
- Said Benrahma (£12m)
- Rayan Cherki (academy)
- Nemanja Matic (£2.2m)
- Mahamadou Diawara (free)
Forwards
- Gift Orban (£11.7m)
- Alexandre Lacazette (free)
- Malick Fofana (£14.2m)
- Wilfried Zaha (loan fee £2.5m)
- Ernest Luama (£23.7m)
- Georges Mikautadze (£15.4m)
Total squad cost – £140.3m