Glen Kamara was bought for a bargain. At £50,000 you don’t get much more of a snip than the cut-price fee it cost Steven Gerrard when he pinched the former Dundee ace from Dens Park.
But now four years on, Mixu Paatelainen reckons Rangers risk losing a fortune if Gerrard’s old sidekick Mick Beale fails to find a way to maximise the value of one of his few sellable Ibrox assets. With nine players heading out of contract in the summer, the 27-year-old - who is tied to the Glasgow giants until 2025 - is among a small clutch of top-team stars nailed down on a long-term deal who could currently expect to fetch a decent fee.
The Finn has previously been linked with £10million moves to England and Europe but Paatelainen - the man who handed the Ibrox ace his first international call-up - fears Gers would struggle to command top dollar now. Kamara’s price tag has dwindled in recent months having been cast aside by former boss Gio van Bronckhorst. He made his first league start since September against St Mirren just before the World Cup break - a match that proved to be GVB’s final game in charge - but faced the indignity of being hooked at half-time after another meak performance.
It was a far cry from the classy displays Kamara regularly put in when Beale was last at the club, with the former Arsenal kid a central figure as Gers romped to an undefeated Premiership triumph.
But if the new Ibrox gaffer can’t get the midfielder firing again, Paatelainen has told Gers they can forget about landing a repeat of the windfalls when they sold Joe Aribo and Calvin Bassey last summer.
The former Hibs, Killie and Dundee United boss told Record Sport : “Rangers signed Glen for a bargain and would have hoped to sell him on for a big profit. But if he’s not playing they won’t be able to reach the kind of sums that was once talked about for him.
“That’s always the case. You can only get a good transfer fee if he plays regularly. We’ll see how things go but I don’t think Glen is desperate to leave Rangers right now.
“However, he will consider leaving if he’s not getting the minutes he wants. Everything changed when Steven Gerrard left. Gio did use him a lot in the Europa League last season and he played really well.
“But Glen has always been regarded as a midfielder who keeps possession and maybe his lack of forward passing, penetrating passes, was why he didn’t play so much at other times.
“But I think Glen can improve on that because he’s got all the skills required in his locker if it’s explained clearly to him that’s what’s required.
“Different managers see different things in players and have different expectations. Glen has featured for Rangers over the last year but maybe hasn’t started as many games as he’d have liked. But I just think that’s a matter of opinion.
“Gio chose to go with other midfielders and perhaps that’s because he wanted more attacking options. I don’t think that’s the most natural side to Glen’s game. He’s more of a sitting midfielder, a passer who builds from deep.
“But then he did show during that Europa League run that he can get forward and score goals, like he did in the semi-final against Leipzig. Time will tell if he features more under Beale. We’ve still to see who he will bring in once the January window opens but you’d expect there to be some stiff competition for Glen to get a game.”
Kamara’s camp denied there had been a fall-out between the player and van Bronckhorst after that fateful afternoon in Paisley, when a 1-1 draw with Saints proved to be the final straw for the Light Blues board before ditching the Dutchman.
But Paatelainen knows the midfielder will be out to prove a point to his old boss. He said: “Glen is a determined guy. He’s had a fantastic development.
“But you only make those kind of strides forward if you’re determined to improve every day. I’m sure that’s still the case for Glen and I know he’ll be desperate to play and show how good a player he is. Everybody knows his passing and technical ability.
“But I think what’s key for him now is that he produces what the new manager wants from him, for example does Beale want him to be more attacking or more of a sitter whose involvement is in the build-up phase.
“We don’t have a crystal ball so we can’t yet say how it’s going to work out for him under the new manager but I do know how determined Glen is.
“He’s desperate to play and desperate to play for Rangers. I don’t think he wants to leave right now but if he thinks he’s not going to play much then I’m sure he’ll have to look at other options in January or the summer.”
Beale was instrumental in persuading Gerrard to make his move for Kamara in January 2019, while the new Ibrox boss’ No.2 Neil Banfield - a long-term assistant to former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger - also has a close relationship with the ex-Gunners trainee from their time together in North London.
“Beale knows Glen thoroughly and he was used a lot when Beale worked at the club previously under Steven Gerrard’s management,” added Paatelainen. “So Beale will know exactly what Glen can do.
“If you put him in the right role he can do the job for Rangers no problem. But it depends on what role Beale has in mind for Glen.
“The competition for places is a big factor. Beale has other midfielders who are perhaps a bit more robust in terms of tackling, who are stronger, like John Lundstram.
“Glen’s strengths are more in his range of passing but I think it’s good for Rangers to have different types of midfielders. It gives them more options depending on who the opponent is.”
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