Spartak Moscow came close to signing Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara for just £5 million last summer, the wife of the Russian giants owner explained to Soccer.
When the Daily Mail reported in May that Kamara had emerged as a transfer target for the club who let him go in 2017, it was claimed that Arsenal would have had to part with £10 million for the fleet-footed Fin.
What can be gleaned from this then – alongside the fact that Arsenal probably should have given Kamara a chance at the Emirates – is that his price-tag has doubled in less than 12 months.
Understandably so, really, when you consider the role Kamara played in Rangers’ first Scottish Premiership title triumph in a decade.
Steven Gerrard’s very own ‘Rolls Royce’ cruised through the season while barely breaking sweat, swaggering across the Ibrox turf with the kind of effortless elegance that has become his trademark since that bargain £50,000 transfer from Dundee in January 2019.
But it all could have turned out so differently had Kamara left Glasgow for the Russian capital during the summer of 2020.
How close did Glen Kamara come to leaving Rangers?
“The footballer was ready to move,” said Zarema Salikhova, suggesting that Spartak had managed to strike a bargain deal with Rangers.
“In the course of negotiations, the price was brought down to five million. His family live in Finland. He really wanted to play closer to home.
“I think he would he have strengthened Spartak.”
Kamara’s £10 million price-tag could rise further on the back of Euro 2020 too, with the one-time Gunners youngster impressing in Finland’s first two group-stage games so far.
But, regardless of whether the 25-year-old stays or goes this summer, it seems that Rangers have made a new central midfielder their top priority with Cologne contract rebel Salih Ozcan due to become a free agent next month.
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