We asked AI to predict Rangers’ post-takeover £80m summer transfer window - the results were stunning

According to reports, Rangers could have new owners by the summer – the investment wing of the San Francisco 49ers NFL team, which already owns Leeds United, is in negotiations to take the historic Scottish side over by June, and if that deal is completed then Rangers’ fortunes could change swiftly significantly.

The 49ers’ ownership have been praised for the way they navigated a potentially difficult summer transfer window, selling on high-value players like Archie Gray, Crysencio Summerville and Georginio Rutter to help deal with a challenging financial situation while re-investing it intelligently to build a squad which is currently on course for automatic promotion back to the Premier League.

Rangers could be next to benefit from a canny approach to player trading and talent identification, and the 49ers’ knack of attracting substantial celebrity investment. It might mean that the Ibrox outfit suddenly have rather more money to spend, and spend it more intelligently, and the rather yawning gap between Rangers and Celtic could easily be closed quite quickly. But who will they sign? Short of any real information, we asked AI to predict what the prospective new owners might do this summer if the takeover is completed – and the algorithm came up with a staggering set of transfer worth up to £80m. Let’s find out what the robots reckon Rangers will do…

Statement signings in midfield

Let’s start with the most expensive and perhaps most implausible suggestions – the algorithm reckons that Rangers could splash out some serious cash to sign AC Milan winger Samuel Chukwueze and, perhaps most audaciously, Bologna and Scotland attacking midfielder Lewis Ferguson. Both are predicted to cost £15-20m.

Ferguson was one of the best players in Serie A last season as he helped his club to qualify for the Champions League, but serious injuries have slowed down his progress this time around and he has managed just 13 games, scoring one goal. That might knock his price down enough (and mute interest from elsewhere sufficiently) to give Rangers a shot at what would be a real headline-grabber of a signing.

The AI reckons that Ferguson would add “goals, grit, and leadership to a midfield lacking dynamism”, while Chukwueze, who has been underutilised at Milan since moving to Italy following an explosive season with Villarreal in La Liga, would be a “real statement of intent”. He managed 13 goals and 11 assists in the 2022/23 season and would quite probably tear the SPL to pieces if he were indeed to be signed.

Frankly, however, both of these suggested deals may not factor in the Scottish top flight’s relative lack of clout in the transfer market – even if Rangers became rich enough to offer the right money, any interest from the Premier League or other major European leagues could be enough to put the kibosh on it. Still, you can’t say that AI isn’t ambitious.

Two former targets to move to Ibrox at last

It’s pretty clear that the AI has been keeping a close eye on the transfer columns, as it now suggests two players who Rangers reportedly bid for without being able to meet their current clubs’ valuations – Ibrahim Adel from Pyramids FC in Egypt (who would cost £4.5-6m) and Morgan Whittaker from Plymouth Argyle (£10-12m).

Rangers supposedly had bids for both players rejected over the past year, but with a fresh influx of dollars in the club’s bank account they could go back with a bigger cheque. The 23-year-old Adel would “bolster attacking width, a priority after inconsistent wing play”, while Whittaker would offer “a proven scorer to rival Celtic’s firepower.”

One thing the AI may not have taken into account is that Whittaker has struggled to follow last season’s excellent form up – he scored 19 goals in the Championship in 2023/24 but has managed just three so far this time around with the Pilgrims embroiled in a relegation battle. Perhaps he will flourish once more now he’s out of Wayne Rooney’s shadow, but we also suspect that Rangers’ alleged £7m bid last summer might do the job now, and would if anything be overkill were Plymouth to go down.

An ex-Celtic star and a Football Manager hero

To round off this explosive transfer window, we’ve got two more suggested signings – one of which would go down like a lead balloon is certain parts of Glasgow. That’s the proposed move for Brentford’s Kristoffer Ajer, who was of course a Celtic player for several years and probably isn’t thought of too fondly by most Rangers supporters.

Perhaps they’d find a certain Sol Campbell-esque appreciation for the Dane if he made the proposed £10-15m switch to Ibrox, and apparently he would “elevate the back-line for European battles.” An injury-strewn season might, however, make Brentford think about selling the 26-year-old at a reasonable price.

The final player AI came up with would be moving up from Leeds themselves, with the 49ers apparently using their new multi-club ownership model to give 22-year-old Joe Gelhardt a fresh start. A wonderkid on Football Manager a few years back, Gelhardt’s career hasn’t caught fire yet and he’s currently on loan at Hull City. As he is still “young, hungry, and a potential resale asset”, he would be given a second chance at Rangers for a fee of £5-7m.

That’s what AI reckons the Gers will get up to given the chance – and while a few of the suggestions seem somewhat improbably (to say the very least) we may well find out just how good AI is at predicting the future very soon. If the takeover deal gets done, there could be exciting times ahead for the blue half of Glasgow.