Celtic Have Seen This Rangers Fantasy Before – Now Makhanya Is Already a £20m Superstar

There is something wonderfully predictable about the Scottish media’s Rangers transfer cycle.

A new player arrives at Ibrox. He produces several promising performances. Within weeks, the superlatives begin, European scouts are supposedly circling and an enormous future valuation is attached to his name.

The Daily Record has now given Olwethu Makhanya the full treatment.

Record Sport describes the defender as playing with his “pipe and slippers on” before suggesting that he appears “destined for bigger things.” The grand conclusion is that Rangers should eventually be rewarded with a “club record fee.”

Makhanya may become an excellent player. He has undoubtedly looked composed during Rangers’ recent improvement under Derek McInnes.

However, he has made only 11 appearances.

Eleven.

That is apparently enough evidence to start discussing a potential transfer worth more than every previous Rangers sale. Why wait for an entire season, European performances or winners’ medals when a handful of domestic games can produce a multimillion-pound fairytale?

We Have Heard It All Before

This is not Makhanya’s fault. The 22-year-old did not write the article or place a fantasy valuation upon himself.

The problem is a familiar media machine that continually inflates Rangers players long before they have achieved anything substantial.

Alfredo Morelos was repeatedly linked with glamorous moves across Europe. Ryan Kent was regularly portrayed as an enormously valuable asset destined for the Premier League. Neither eventually delivered the gigantic fee that years of headlines had encouraged supporters to expect.

Manny Fernandez was also showered with praise before competitive football exposed serious weaknesses in his game. Even the latest Record piece admits that his opening weeks contained costly and unnecessary mistakes.

That should be a warning against making sweeping judgements after a small sample of matches.

Instead, the hype simply transfers to the next available player.

Rangers’ Start Cannot Be Erased

The coverage also conveniently overlooks the context surrounding Makhanya’s arrival.

Rangers began the season abysmally. Their defence was repeatedly opened up, their European campaign ended in humiliation against Jablonec and McInnes inherited a collection of players who looked unfamiliar with each other.

Recent results have improved. Six consecutive wins and five clean sheets deserve recognition.

Yet improvement does not automatically transform one defender into a £20million-plus commodity. A competent spell in the Scottish Premiership is not proof that Europe’s elite clubs are preparing to break Rangers’ transfer record.

Celtic regularly receive substantial fees because players have delivered across full seasons, won trophies and performed in major European competition. That market reputation was built through evidence rather than wishful thinking.

Makhanya cost approximately £3million and may eventually generate an impressive profit. He could even justify every word currently being written about him.

But allow him to establish himself first.

The Daily Record has skipped the development, consistency, trophies and serious European tests and raced directly towards the imaginary cheque.

It is not analysis. It is the same old Ibrox transfer fantasy with a different player’s face attached.

Key Takeaways

• Olwethu Makhanya has made only 11 Rangers appearances.
• The Daily Record is already predicting a possible club-record transfer fee.
• Rangers’ recent defensive improvement followed a disastrous start to the season.
• Morelos, Kent and other Rangers players previously attracted inflated transfer narratives.
• Makhanya may succeed, but the enormous valuation talk is wildly premature.