Davis and Bougherra in; £7.8m defender sold: Remembering Rangers’ summer transfer window in 2008

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Glasgow Rangers were extremely busy during the summer of 2008, bringing nine players into Ibrox.

While Pedro Caixinha is arguably under as little pressure as a Rangers boss can be this season, he will know that the summer is a crucial milestone for his tenure after which the expectation will be back to its normal level.

With that in mind, HITC Sport is taking a look back at some of the previous windows that the Gers have enjoyed or endured in recent years, starting with the summer window of 2008.

The previous year

Walter Smith’s first full campaign back had almost been a complete triumph for the Gers, as they won the League Cup, the Scottish Cup and reached the UEFA Cup final. However, they missed out on the Scottish Premiership title on the final day, leaving a somewhat sour note on the year’s events.

Who left?

Rangers let 19 players leave Ibrox during the summer of 2008, many of whom were academy players who were deemed not good enough to make the grade.

Among the high-profile departures were the likes of Filip Sebo and Thomas Buffel, but the two biggest departures involved Carlos Cuellar and Daniel Cousin, who both moved to the Premier League.

Cousin’s move to Hull cost the Tigers £3.5 million (via BBC Sport), while Cuellar’s switch to Aston Villa saw the Gers earn £7.8 million (via BBC Sport).

Carlos Cuéllar

Who came in?

The Gers were certainly busy when it came to strengthening their first-team squad with just two of their additions costing less than seven-figures. Kenny Miller arrived back for the second of his three spells at Ibrox, costing £2 million (via BBC Sport), while Madjid Bougherra cost £2.5 million (via BBC Sport), Kyle Lafferty was £3 million (via BBC Sport), Pedro Mendes and Steven Davis cost £3 million each (via BBC Sport and BBC Sport) and Maurice Edu cost £2.6 million (via BBC Sport).

Madjid Bougherra

Andy Webster also arrived from Wigan, while Andrius Velicka and Aaron Niguez went on to have unspectacular spells at Ibrox following their moves.

What happened?

The subsequent season proved to be a successful one in the league with Rangers winning the Scottish Premiership, while retaining their Scottish Cup crown. They did lose the League Cup final however, and missed out on the Champions League group-stages.