Record of Russell Martin's First Signings Unveiled

The Daily Record has pulled off an incredible scoop by revealing Russell Martin’s first three signings- expected to cost in the region of £40m.

Since February 19 the Glasgow based publisher has been promising their readers multi-million pound investment and a splurge of transfer spending.

So far it has all been very elusive but with Andrew Cavenagh’s power grab rubber stamped today the brakes are off on the latest Revolution to transform Ibrox.

For non-Record readers today’s EGM was something of a wash-out, sustainability is the watchword of the new regime, when Derek Llambias and the Easdale brothers tried that in season 2014/15 they were chased out of town.

Over at the Record it is moonbeams all the way as they dream of an end to Celtic’s domination, over the last 12 months the hoops have surpassed the trophy count of both Ibrox clubs with #title55 won by 17 points as Phil Clement fell short of the demands of the job.

Big money deals on the way. Be afraid Celtic.
— Larry 49er 🇺🇸🇬🇧🇫🇷 (@LarryB49ers) June 23, 2025

Earlier this month BBC Scotland were teasing their audience with tales of how Luke Modric and half of the Real Madrid Academy team were heading to Ibrox, that turned out to be as viable as the Jordan Henderson coaching role. Starting pre-season training today Russell Martin didn’t even have a first team goalkeeping coach.

Martin is still waiting on his first signing, Lyall Cameron and Oscar Cortes were lined up before he agreed to become Head Coach.

Rather than try to dampen down expectations Mark Pirie has gone tonto in his bid to cheers up Record readers from the misery of reality.

It’s been a sluggish start to the transfer window for Rangers following the blockbuster US takeover.

New boss Russell Martin has seen Lyall Cameron come through the door after the midfielder had agreed a pre-contract move from Dundee before his arrival – with Max Aarons expected to arrive from Bournemouth on loan in the coming days.

But after Andrew Cavenagh and Paraag Marathe of 49ers Enterprises faced Ibrox shareholders for the first time excitement is building for some big moves in the market.

Getting into his stride Pirie is about to unleash the blockbuster news:

The Glasgow giants have been careful with their spending in recent seasons – with the last time the club broke the £7million barrier coming all the way back in 2019 when Ryan Kent made his permanent move from Liverpool.

So could the new owners surprise the punters by breaking that self-imposed barrier?

Martin is said to be keen on a reunion with Southampton star Flynn Downes in the Scottish Premiership – having previously managed the 26-year-old at Swansea and the Saints.

The midfielder was a key member of the Southampton team that secured promotion through the play-offs in the 2023/34 campaign while on loan from West Ham.

Then helped get Martin sacked before Christmas before Southampton ended the season with the second lowest EPL points tally in history.

And there’s more…

He would return to the south coast ahead of their return to the Premier League for a £15m fee – and it could take a similarly money-spinning offer to tempt the St Mary’s chiefs to sell. It has been suggested that bidding for the 26-year-old starts at £9million.

Good luck with that, Downes should be able to attract a bid of around £15m to remain in the EPL, with his wages of £60-80,000 a week not taking a hit.

Another raid of his former club could also come at a hefty cost, with Aaron Ramsdale being touted with a move to the Glasgow giants.

The England international will reportedly be allowed to leave the English Championship side to boost his case for the World Cup with a loan exit said to be on the table.

But should Southampton push for a permanent exit it is likely the relegated Premier League side would attempt to recoup a sizeable chunk of the £18m they forked out to Arsenal for the goalkeeper last summer.

That’s us at £33m of last summer’s Southampton signings, plus EPL wages, raised a little to come to Ibrox to play alongside James Tavernier and his pals.

Finally in this first tranche of signings we get:

It’s money-spinning thought for the 49ers as they look to spring a surprise this summer – and Matija Frigan is a striker who could also take a major fee to bring him to Rangers.

The Croatian striker is currently valued at £6.5m by his club Westerlo – but reports in Belgium suggest that his price tag is set to rocket amid rising interest in the 22-year-old.

Hamburg and Hull City are two of the clubs who are said to have shown an interest with Voetbal Primeur claiming Westerlo “hope” a bidding war breaks out to take his price tag beyond £7m with the Glasgow giants eyeing alternatives to Dor Turgeman.

There you go, £40m spent just like that by Pirie, with those three signings made Martin will just be eight players short of fielding a competent team, four weeks tomorrow Panathinaikos visit Ibrox in a Champions League Second Round qualifier.

Paraag Marathe mentioned to shareholders this morning that they will be surprised by the players that are signed up- it will be a shock off the radar if any on that Daily Record list are on the team-sheet to face Panathinaikos in four weeks time.

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