Why are Rangers players joining Trabzonspor? | OneFootball

With Rangers captain James Tavernier closing in on a reported move to Turkish giants Trabzonspor, the clear question is:

Why the heck are Rangers players leaving Ibrox for this particular Turkish side and/or Turkey in general?!

With former Rangers defender Borna Barišić already having signed on at the Süper Lig team alongside fellow former Ibrox illumni John Lundstram who too has joined the Trabzon-based club, not to mention former Rangers winger Ryan Kent and his failed move to Istanbul, James Tavernier now appears very likely to join the recent departures as well.

Which begs the question – why are all these Rangers players going to Turkey, and in particular Trabzonspor.

It’s not like the Süper Lig outfit have Champions League football to offer the Rangers trio, they’re in the Europa League qualifiers for crying out loud, and while they were third in admittedly a pretty strong league (Turkey have miles overtaken Scotland in league standings coefficient now) they were still way way behind Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray.

The only genuine three reasons Ibrox Noise can fathom for all three hoiking it off to Trabzonspor and Turkey are the following:

Weather. Turkey’s hot, the climate is far better for those who appreciate sun and sand.

Contract. Rangers were unwilling to give Borna or Lunny the length of contract they wanted. Trabzonspor gave them it.

Wages. The big one. Rangers’ best-paid player is Danilo at around £40,000, with Connor Goldson very very close behind. But Trabzonspor have a much bigger wage bill and their best-paid are 3 guys on £50Kpw and more, and they have a tonne also on over £40K. In short, it is very feasible Rangers’ trio are getting very, very handsome salaries over there.

It is more than likely Tavernier was offered in excess of his reported £30,000 and that’s just too much to reject at 32-years-old – same for the other two oldies who now have left Rangers and joined Trabzonspor.

Is it all about money, contract and weather? Don’t underplay these – these guys being offered big money to join a strong league at great pay and lovely weather with a deal that sets them up deep into their mid-30s.

They’re not getting top five leagues because none of them are good enough (any more, if they ever were) and this is the kind of deal that they’d get in a league of that calibre.

So Trabzonspor, preparing an assault on the league title next season, are trying to bring in experienced and quality players they think can do that. They have signed four additions already in the Rangers duo and another couple of handy guys as well.

Maybe Rangers themselves could learn from this…