Rangers transfers: Philippe Clement lays bare current state of play in revealing press conference and leaves cryptic Cantwell note

Rangers manager Philippe Clement has reiterated that he will need players to leave Ibrox ahead of next Friday’s transfer deadline before he can bring in new recruits.

The Belgian is desperate to reinforce his squad ahead of the current campaign with his own type of player - and admitted that the wage bill is currently too high. There are reports that Ben Davies could move to Birmingham City, while Rabbi Matondo has been linked with Blackburn Rovers. Playmakers Ianis Hagi and Todd Cantwell are also available for transfer, although finding a suitable buyer is proving difficult.

Clement is paying the price for mismanagement by those previously at the helm of Rangers and while he refused to put a precise number on how many players he wants to sign ahead of August 30, it is clear he requires further arrivals for the upcoming campaign.

Philippe Clement during a Rangers training session.

On the possibility of departures, Clement said: “I know things, of course, but I will not go into rumours until things are signed, until things are sure. So I cannot say anything about that now.”

When asked how many first-team players he needs to get off the wage bill, Clement continued: “It has to do with money. It has to do with high wages from the past. And replace them by players with lower wages. And like this to do something for now and for the future of the club.”

The questioning then turned to how many players he would like in, but Clement was steadfast in his response. “No, I will never respond to that question,” he said. “Not here, not in any other club. Because I know if I put a number on that, and it's less, you guys will point out that there's a problem between me and the board. It doesn't work that way.

“So I think the most important thing for every club is to get the right players in, to get the right quality. And everybody is in the club, I know, working really hard on that. Every moment that they're awake, same thing for me. It's busy weeks. You get a lot of players to look at from recruitment until late at night. Or until very, very late in the night. But that's our job to do also. So we want to get people in who can raise the quality, otherwise it's of no use. So everybody's working hard on that.

“If people leave, we need other people in, it is clear. Otherwise we're short in that position. At the end, I don't know which bids come in. I really don't know. Because I'm not interested in that. I'm busy with the squad, with the team. Also, to speak with recruitment about if they come with names, if we think as a staff, it's not only me. If we think as a staff, it can be assets for now, also for the future, because you have to make choices like that also.

“Like I said from the beginning, those were choices made with Clinton Nsiala, for example, who was out of contract in Milan. Or with a young player like Hamza [Igamane], coming in for the future. So you need to make that choice. There's no reason for me to know every bid that comes in for a player or for what amount, because I'm not at the end the one who makes the decisions about the money in the club. I can only know when it's clear. I told you guys already weeks ago, there's been a clear talk with [Ianis] Hagi about that before the pre-season started. Todd [Cantwell] made his own opinion about things, why he doesn’t want to stay in Scotland. And I don't speak only about Rangers, it's more Scotland. Why he wanted to leave. So those are decisions made for me. And it's seeing what's a good deal for them, but also for the club. And I will hear when it's the case. Until now it was not the case, apparently.

Clement was then asked if those two players, or any other players, don't leave, will you not be able to bring any in? His response was telling: “Then it's going to be very difficult, I think.”