What will Rangers' £20m rebuild look like?

Andrew Cavenagh (left) and Paraag Marathe front the consortium that has invested £20m in Rangers after a takeover

On Monday, Rangers' new American owners got approval to invest £20m into the club, marking a significant moment in the Ibrox club's fresh era.

It is a hefty sum of money by Scottish football standards. But, in the more specific context of Rangers' rivalry with Celtic, is it enough?

The green-and-white half of Glasgow has won 13 of the past 14 Scottish Premiership titles in an era of unprecedented dominance.

But new Rangers chairman Andrew Cavenagh says their aim is to win trophies and have the club back in the Champions League.

Cavenagh also said they would be deliberately "opaque" about the transfer budget, so it is unknown exactly how much of the £20m will go directly towards new head coach Russell Martin's squad.

So how do they plan to turn things around?

Is £20m enough for Rangers?

The cash brought in by Cavenagh and the investment arm of the San Francisco 49ers is clearly significant.

However, Rangers' most recent financial results, from October 2024, showed a loss of £17m for the last financial year.

Costs have been cut since then, but the new owners walked into a club that day-to-day is losing money and, as of June 2024, had just £1.7m in the bank.

By the end of the same period, Celtic had £77m (£65m as of 31 December 2024) in cash reserves - a staggering difference.

The key reasons behind the stark comparison have been Celtic's shrewd ability to recruit talented young players - and sell them at a big profit.

Eight of the 10 biggest sales in Scottish football history have been Celtic players, according to transfermarkt.com, and have all come in the past 11 years.

Regular Champions League football has also been critical in allowing Celtic to move well clear of Rangers financially.

So, while £20m is not to be sniffed at, in itself it will not transform Rangers' spending power relative to their rivals.

Cavenagh knows this, saying the long-term goal is to deliver financial stability, with the possible expansion of Ibrox a project for down the line as well.

"We are not looking for the sugar high - come in, spend some money, sign some players, try to win something, and then have the sugar crash that comes with that," Cavenagh explained.

"So we think £20m is the right amount at this time."

So what could be the plan?

Vice-chairman Paraag Marathe is a key figure given, in his own words to shareholders, he "has a deep expertise in running sporting organisations and turning them around".

He has worked in American football operations at the 49ers for years, including with their analytics and data department.

It is that background he has brought to bear on Leeds United, who were promoted to the Premier League last season after narrowly missing out the campaign before.

That failed promotion bid prompted Leeds to sell star players Crysencio Summerville, Archie Gray and Georginio Rutter, among others, for big money and reinvest.

They did so shrewdly and relatively cheaply, bringing in the likes of Ao Tanaka and Jayden Bogle to spearhead their title win.

It seems the most instructive comparison to what might happen at Rangers, with Marathe emphasising it is about being "smarter" rather than hosing money at players.

As well as the £20m injection, midfielder Nicolas Raskin and striker Cyriel Dessers have both reportedly been the subject of interest from other clubs.

The first move might be to cash in and immediately look to reinvest, although Cavenagh revealed no details about the summer plans.

However, given Rangers' first competitive game - a huge one against Panathinaikos in Champions League qualifying - is just four weeks away, the clock is ticking.

Former Dundee midfielder Lyall Cameron is the only confirmed addition to the Rangers squad, although they appear close to signing Bournemouth right-back Max Aarons on loan.

Vaclav Cerny, Leon Balogun, Ianis Hagi and Tom Lawrence are all senior players from last season who have departed, so there is a big job to be done.

"The club is in a different position this year," Cavenagh said. "We can be patient from a financial perspective.

"Where there's the right opportunity, we will jump at it. Where it's right to be slow, we will be slow."

How quickly can things change at Ibrox?

Rangers need only look at what happened when they won the league title in 2021, as Ange Postecoglou arrived at Celtic Park and immediately reclaimed the crown.

Despite losing the first Old Firm derby, the Australian added Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate across two windows, key pillars of Celtic's success under him and successor Brendan Rodgers.

It shows a few key signings, plus a head coach who can improve a squad, can go a long way. Particularly as Rangers' shortcomings last term were chiefly against the rest of the league, rather than Celtic.

Former Rangers midfielder Kevin Thomson believes it is also about finding players with the right attitude, on top of talent.

"When you get to Rangers and Celtic, it comes down to what type of players they recruit and how they handle it mentally," he said on Sportsound.

"How do you create that edge every single day?"

That job will fall to Martin, and Cavenagh said one of the four key things they were looking for when hiring the former Southampton boss was an ability to improve players, as well as style of play, winning and building a culture.

And, while a lot of the talk from the new owners is about this being a long-term project, they clearly believe success is not too far away.

"It's achievable or we wouldn't be here," Cavenagh said, emphasising they share fans' "sense of urgency".

"We don't think it will be easy. It won't happen instantaneously, we will strive to improve on-pitch performance and continue to improve the infrastructure of the club.

"But, if we didn't think we could win, we wouldn't be here."