Celtic may be about to inadvertently do city rivals Rangers a favour if an agreement can be reached with Genk to see Eboue Kouassi make his loan move to Belgium permanent as the Ibrox side look to seal Ianis Hagi’s transfer.
There is a purchase clause Kouassi’s loan agreement and speaking to Football Insider, former Rangers defender, Alan Hutton, feels that the Ibrox club will be far from Neil Lennon’s mind if he sanctions the move.
So what has Hutton said?
When asked how he perceived the potential transfer merry go round, Hutton said:
“I don’t think Lennon will see it as doing Rangers a favour, to be honest. I think his mindset will be elsewhere, he’ll be looking to strengthen his own team.
“However, it’s great for Rangers if that’s the case, that they bring him in and it frees up some space for Hagi to leave.
“I think he’s done excellent for Rangers in the short time that he’s been there so with the qualities he’s got I think he’s only going to get better. Whether the price will be a stumbling block, we’re yet to see – we’re talking £3-4million so it’s whether Rangers can loosen the purse strings.”
So is Hutton correct?
The last thing that Lennon will be thinking about when agreeing the sale of Kouassi is whether or not Rangers will in some way benefit from the deal, he will be focussed purely on removing someone from his wage bill who isn’t contributing to free up space for someone that could.
There is also the issue that Hagi, although he has shown glimpses, has not exactly set the heather alight in the Scottish Premiership, his signing would hardly set fear into the hearts of Hoops fans across the country.
Rangers deal for Hagi is set at £4m, regardless of whether or not Genk get Kouassi in first there is a strong case for the Ibrox side simply not being able to afford him – it wouldn’t be the first time they weren’t able to pay their bills after all.