Rangers £50m triple transfer is pie in the sky and here is brutal reality for fans
If we're going by social media the numbers just keep going up and up.
By last night, the latest sale figure for Nicolas Raskin appeared to be sitting at £25 million.
For Hamza Igamane, you're looking at around £15 million.
Want to buy Mohamed Diomande? Let's call it £10 million.
That's some going eh? £50 million in the coffers for three players who won the square root of hee-haw last season.
They were part of a team who got their manager the sack and couldn't beat Queen's Park in 90 minutes or St Mirren over the course of three games.
Now we're meant to believe that Europe's elite is suddenly after them and willing to spend big to get them.
You can't help feeling the Rangers support might need to take a reality check here.
Remember, this is a group of players who threw away the chance of a league title two seasons ago.
This year, they weren't even at the races as they allowed Celtic to gallop clear, clinch 4-in-a-row and a Double.
They let down their ex-gaffer, Philippe Clement, and when Barry Ferguson took interim charge - they turned up for Old Firm games or Europe but were posted missing against the rest.
So they're not world beaters, by any stretch.
If you take the trio of Raskin, Diomande and Igamane - all three are assets to Rangers. That's indisputable.
But as it stands, there have been no bids tabled for any of them.
And what have they done exactly to merit these exaggerated transfer fees they might command?
Raskin is the pick of the bunch. And of course, his recent inclusion in the Belgium team will have added real value.
But a £25 million player? He hasn't done enough to earn that price tag.
On his day, he's a quality player. But has he dominated games for Rangers regularly?
It wasn't that long ago, with fellow Belgian Clement at the helm, that he couldn't get a start.
Has he been the driving force in a title or trophy success? Not yet.
To warrant that kind of fee, Raskin will have to be a lynchpin of Russell Martin's new-look side this season and win silverware.
With two years left on his contract, Rangers should probably be trying to get him to sign an extension ahead of the World Cup next summer.
If Raskin is really worth what the punters think he is, he'll have a stormer this term, be a key man for Belgium in the USA, Mexico and Canada - and then offers might come flooding in.
With Diomande, there's been talk of Everton interest but no concrete bid.
The Ivorian has a lot of good attributes but is nowhere near the finished article.
He's blown hot and cold at Rangers. One week, he can be brilliant at Parkhead against Celtic.
The next, he's anonymous at Motherwell.
Again, he now has to step up to the plate for Martin if Rangers really want to get some bang for their buck and kick-start a proper player trading model.
Igamane is similar. The Moroccan striker is a rough diamond.
At his best, he's genial and explosive.
At his worst, he spends 90 minutes trying to nutmeg people and making little impact.
It's Martin's job to smooth out Igamane's edges and turn him into a prolific striker in Scotland - one that clubs in England and abroad can't ignore.
It's understandable that Rangers fans want to start seeing some decent money coming in for their best players.
They've had to watch Celtic rake in millions for their best talent over recent years.
They'll argue that if Matt O'Riley can go for £25 million, why can't Raskin? And they've got a point.
But O'Riley was scoring goals from midfield, winning Trebles and performing in the Champions League.
Rangers are right not to set the bar low, given the ridiculous fees Premier League clubs pay these days.
But getting rid of Raskin, Diomande and Igamane shouldn't be the priority for them, Martin or sporting director Kevin Thelwell.
Because first of all, they need to get a return on some expensive flops.
In this window, Rangers should be trying to offload Robin Propper, Ridvan Yilmaz, Ben Davies, Kieran Dowell, Jose Cifuentes, Nedim Bajrami, Rabbi Matondo and Danilo.
If they can somehow get dough back on them - allied to the fresh investment from Andrew Cavenagh and the new owners - it will give the manager a chance to build something.
A team who have the quality and mentality to put up a genuine challenge to Celtic for the title, as well as competing in the cups and Europe.
And rather than selling them off - they should be hoping that Raskin, Diomande and Igamane are integral parts of that.
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