Philippe Clement building Rangers transfer profit model from Genk blueprint as he plots conveyor belt legacy

Clement is confident he can repeat the tricks from his manoeuvres in the market at both Monaco and Genk.

Philippe Clement believes he can make Rangers millions by selling their young stars for a huge profit.

The Ibrox gaffer forged a reputation in Belgium for nurturing talent to a level where they earned lucrative moves to bigger leagues. At Genk, Clement worked with Norwegian ace Sander Berge who, after helping them win a title in 2019, was flogged to Sheffield United for a record £22million. He also developed Leandro Trossard, who was snapped up by Brighton for £13m before moving to Arsenal for £20m. At Club Brugge, Clement was vital in Noa Lang’s progress before he made a £14m switch to PSV.

And even at last club Monaco, he had French centre-back Axel Disasi who was sold to Chelsea last summer for £38.5m. Clement knows it takes time to build that type of trading model but is convinced he can do the same at Rangers. He knows he has emerging talents like Mohamed Diomande, Ross McCausland, Ridvan Yilmaz and Oscar Cortes at Ibrox.

And asked if he could replicate what he did in Belgium, Clement said: “Yes for sure but you need to build it. You can’t do it in one year. You also need to build a reputation as a club.

“If you sell someone and he does well elsewhere, it opens doors for the next ones. That’s something Ajax did for a long time. Brugge have been doing it too. They have just sold Igor Thiago for £37m (to Premier League Brentford).

“Every year these amounts become higher because you have created a reputation. That’s something Rangers needs to do — to be a platform for young players to develop then take the next step.”