It’s ironic that John Park could be arriving at Ibrox just as Rangers look set to make a sizeable profit on the type of transfer that earned him an impressive talent-spotting reputation across the city at rivals Celtic.
There might not be any new faces in Govan this summer - with only January pre-contract signing John Souttar arriving from Hearts - but Park could help change that with his imminent arrival as part of sporting director Ross Wilson’s recruitment team.
News of Park, who had spells at Hibs and Celtic before stints in England and abroad, comes just as reports of Aribo’s departure ramps up with Southampton looking likely to sign the Nigeria international in a £10 million deal. And Aribo typifies the ‘buy low, sell high’ strategy that proved so profitable for the Parkhead side during his spell.
The likes of Virgil van Dijk, Victory Wanyama and Moussa Dembele were all recruited during his time in the east end of Glasgow and were sold on for huge cash after contributing to success on the park. Aribo was signed by Steven Gerrard for a cut-price cross-border fee from Charlton Athletic and after helping the club win the Scottish Premiership title as well as reaching - and scoring in - a European final appears to be returning south of the border.
It’s how Park likes to work and in an interview with the Athletic after leaving Celtic, where he had stints in England with Blackburn Rovers and abroad with Legia Warsaw, he spoke of the Moneyball strategy - a data-driven approach to recruitment and team decisions on the transfer market - which worked so well and Rangers could soon be reaping the benefits.
He said of his success at Celtic: "It’s a lowball game, a Moneyball game, but it’s down to the staff behind the scenes to spot these guys approaching the end of their contracts, and knowing they’re good enough for Celtic, or at least being confident of it.
“We were ahead of the game. We had our own data analysis department back then, with Craig Dunbar and Paul McLeish. They ascertained the facts from the data to compare players and value them against what we’d got in the club at the present. When you look at the stats and leverage them against the scouting reports, you come to the conclusion that they can be the right ones for the club.”
Park also insists he is as proud of the "bread and butter" signings who thrived in Glasgow just as much the marquee names who departed for big money. Adam Matthews, Joe Ledley, Kris Commons and Gary Hooper arrived for free or on nominal fees and the transfer specialist insists those deals were vital to his approach.
Park added: “You can talk about the Virgils (van Dijk), Moussas, but those bread and butter players who have come in for little or nothing have done every bit as much for Celtic as the big names.”
Brendan Rodgers shuffled his staff when he arrived in 2016 and Park, who joined Celtic in 2007, departed with Lee Congerton hired. That saw a change in approach from Celtic with big money spent on the likes of Odsonne Edouard for a then club record £9 million.
But Park wasn’t envious of that kind of money being shelled out. He said: “I find it strange that people spend that amount of money on some players when you can find 100 players just as good, if not better, for a portion of that money. Have Celtic spent money and done well? I don’t know. You look at Edouard: £9 million. But then you include his wages for a couple of million, and then the sell-on (40 per cent of profit to PSG), is that value for money?
“There are some excellent young players out there that you can find through the right tools and processes, which the right scouting team can deliver. I’m totally convinced of that. That’s the part of it I love.
“I was never asked by Peter (Lawwell) to balance the books. We never once spoke about it. If the right type of player was available at a good price for each of the coaches, for each manager I worked with, then Peter was happy to work with that.”
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