Rangers near huge 49ers takeover, with months of secret talks to conclude with big investment

Behind closed doors over the last few months, Rangers have been looking at avenues to bring in extra revenue and make the club more financially strong.

They have been around the world speaking with prospective investors and for the last four months have been in talks with the owners of the San Francisco 49ers.

The American consortium, led by the 49ers executive chairman Paraag Marathe, grew very interested in the club and its potential opportunities. 

They have been advancing in talks and the group are now negotiating a deal to take over the club in the near future, TEAMtalk can reveal.

It is believed the deal will be worth around of £50million, and recent figures regarding share prices roughly value Rangers at £100million. Indeed, the £50million value is not the sale of the entire club.

It would be a huge deal for Rangers and Scottish football as it would see an extremely wealthy group taking on one of the country’s biggest clubs. Marathe is also the chairman of Leeds and the group have been keen to invest further into football.

They would be keen to take on Rangers and continue their model of bringing in big-name investors to help push the brand of the club around the world.

It’s one of the major factors in their model, and at Leeds alone they have investment from the likes of Will Ferrell, Michael Phelps  and Russell Crowe.

Rangers confirm talks

The club confirmed talks on February 19 and they are currently understood to be advanced, which is very exciting for Rangers supporters.

New CEO Patrick Stewart has been heavily involved with Chief Financial Officer James Taylor leading the charge in recent months to find the investment opportunities and bring these talks to the table.

The deal would finally see Rangers put on a financial foundation that would allow them to build up the profile and take them back to competing with Celtic. There are PSR constraints to navigate and expecting a new owner to come in a splash millions would be unrealistic but it makes the opportunities much greater.

The club will look to sell numerous players next summer, as previously reported, and there has been a long-term desire to move into a better standard of league or cup competition. This is something that Rangers fans should keep an eye on should the 49ers get the keys to Ibrox Stadium.

Rangers round-up: Big sales likely

TEAMtalk is aware of seven players Rangers could show the door to soon.

Striker Hamza Igamane will be the most lucrative sale, with the Gers hoping to raise £25million from the Moroccan’s exit.

Fellow striker Cyriel Dessers has been the subject of sale attempts in the last few windows, and Rangers again hope to see him leave in the summer.

Along with that pair, James Tavernier, Tom Lawrence, Dujon Sterling, Jefte and Mohamed Diomande could all leave, with Lawrence out of contract in the summer and interest expected for the other players.