West Ham have faced as much criticism over outgoing transfers as they have signings in recent years but Rangers could flip that on its head.
The Hammers are insisting they must sell in order to be able to buy this summer due to PSR.
With the way PSR works, selling has perhaps never been so important for West Ham and their Premier League rivals.
With Scotsman Kyle Macaulay in as West Ham’s head of recruitment, it is to be expected the club look north of the border for talent.
That is how things are transpiring so far with West Ham already raiding Rangers’ arch rivals Celtic for young Scottish striker Daniel Cummings.
Scotland giants Celtic and Rangers in West Ham’s sights for deals
The Irons may not be done there with their Scottish dealings, though.
Rangers forward Hamza Igamane has been linked in the not-too-distant past.
The 22-year-old Moroccan scored 15 goals and laid on two assists in 27 starts for Rangers last season.
It was claimed West Ham could make a fresh approach for Igamane this summer.
Celtic duo Arne Engels and Daizen Maeda are also reportedly in West Ham’s sights.
But it is a deal for a boyhood Hammer to head to Ibrox that is making headlines in Scotland right now.
And a rare West Ham masterclass has become clear as Rangers eye a £10m deal for a star with claret and blue blood.
Until the £105m sale of Declan Rice to Arsenal, West Ham have had a reputation for continually failing to get proper value when selling players.
The Hammers have been terrible when it comes to negotiating proper fees for their talent down the years.
Even in the case of the big deal with the Gunners, Arsenal fans have goaded West Ham by nicknaming the midfielder ‘half price Rice’ – in the belief they underpaid.
Rare West Ham masterclass clear as Rangers eye £10m deal
From getting just £6m for generational talent Joe Cole to criminally paltry £25m fees for Marko Arnautovic and Dimitri Payet, West Ham rarely get it right when offloading a player.
It seems they did in the case of Flynn Downes, though.
Because one year after getting £18m for Downes from Southampton, the 26-year-old could now be on his way to Rangers for just £10m.
Boyhood Hammer Downes got his dream move to West Ham for around £12 million from Swansea City in the summer of 2022.
However, he was moved on just two years later for a £6m profit after spending the previous campaign on loan at St Mary’s.
It looked like West Ham had made yet another mistake when Downes started last season with Southampton in fine form, in spite of his side’s struggles as a team.
But things quickly unravelled for the hard-working 26-year-old midfielder as he went on to be banished from Ivan Juric’s squad in January after alleged “unprofessional behaviour” following a failed move to Ipswich.
Now according to Scottish journalist Alan Nixon, former Hammer Downes could be on his way to Ibrox giants Rangers with Southampton on course to settle for £8m less than they paid West Ham less than 12 months ago.
Nixon says Downes is top of new manager Russell Martin’s wanted list at Rangers.
Saints could sell Downes to Rangers for £8m after one season
Martin actually had Downes at Swansea before signing him again from the Hammers.
West Ham fans will be interested spectators in this particular move given Downes is ‘one of them’.
There was always a big divide in opinion about Downes at West Ham, with many believing he should have been kept as a squad player and others feeling he was not up to the level required.
Nixon states that Downes could be open to the move and that Rangers plan to back Martin if they can do a deal for around £10m.
If the Downes move to Rangers goes through at that price, it is proof – along with the infamously controversial £20m sale of Academy product Grady Diangana – that the Hammers do not always necessarily get it wrong.
They will have to pull off more sales like Downes this summer if Graham Potter is to get a decent budget for his own overhaul.
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