Glasgow Rangers decided to splash the cash in the transfer window to sign more goalscorers last summer to back Michael Beale in the market.
The Light Blues swooped to sign Sam Lammers from Serie A side Atalanta for £3.5m, Danilo from Feyenoord for a reported deal worth up to £6m, and centre-forward Cyriel Dessers from Cremonese for a fee of £5.4m.
Danilo has missed 32 games and counting through injury so far, Lammers has been loaned out to FC Utrecht, and Dessers has had mixed success on the pitch.
The Nigeria international has scored 14 goals in 24 starts in the Scottish Premiership, and has missed a staggering 24 'big chances' in that time, which shows that he has offered some quality in front of goal but has also been very wasteful with the chances that have come his way.
Rangers have had mixed success over the years with their attempts to sign a prolific goalscorer, with Alfredo Morelos one example of terrific recruitment in that position. The Light Blues landed him for just £1m from Helsinki in 2017, and he went on to be a terrific performer for the club.
Whereas, the Scottish giants were once rinsed by a centre-forward who cost even more to sign than the Colombian marksman – James Beattie.
How much Rangers paid for James Beattie
In the summer of 2010, the Gers decided to splash £1.5m on English striker James Beattie from Stoke City as Walter Smith looked to bolster his goalscoring options.
32 at the time, the Daily Mail reported that there were doubts over the signing from some supporters, who were not convinced that he would have the hunger or sharpness to succeed at Ibrox in the final years of his playing career.
That came after the experienced forward had managed two goals in 22 Premier League matches for the Potters during the 2009/10 campaign.
Beattie had scored nine goals and produced three assists in 40 appearances for Stoke in all competitions during his two years with the club before the switch to Rangers.
The talented marksman had enjoyed a superb career in the Premier League prior to his move to the Potters, with five seasons with ten or more top-flight goals for Everton and Southampton combined, including one 23-goal season in the 2002/03 campaign.
In his 30s with Stoke, Beattie could not replicate his fantastic form from his early playing days and Rangers snapped him up for £1.5m, possibly hoping that they could help him to get back to his best.
Jamie Beattie's form for Rangers
The Gers ended up being rinsed by the veteran centre-forward as they splashed £1.5m and paid his wages, which remained undisclosed, and were not rewarded with much in return.
Upon signing for the Scottish giants, Beattie said that fans could hopefully "expect goals" from him as he looked to lead the line and offer a reliable goal presence for Smith's side.
Unfortunately, the English attacker endured a rough first half of the campaign as he missed out on 16 matchday squads in all competitions with fitness issues.
The 32-year-old forward was restricted to making just ten appearances across all competitions for the Light Blues, with seven of those coming in the Premiership.
His only goal contribution was an assist in a 3-0 win over Hibernian in August – his second league game for the club – as he failed to score a single goal.
As you can see in the table below, Beattie played over 500 minutes of action in all competitions during the first half of the season without finding the back of the net.
Appearances
7
1
2
Minutes played
383
67
29
Goals
0
0
0
Assists
1
0
0
He was then sent out on loan to Premier League side Blackpool for the second half of the campaign, where he produced zero goals and three assists in nine top-flight outings.
By September 2011, Rangers and Beattie agreed to mutually terminate his contract with the club as, per their statement, it was 'clear' that he did not have a future under then-manager Ally McCoist at Ibrox.
This meant that the forward lasted just over a year with the Glasgow giants and cost £1.5m per goal involvement, with zero goals and one assist, after being snapped up from Stoke on a permanent deal.
Therefore, the Gers were rinsed by the former Southampton marksman as he did not give them much in return for the £1.5m fee spent on him and was released after just one full season.
It was a particularly poor piece of business by the club when you consider that they paid just £1m to sign Morelos from Helsinki back in 2017.
Alfredo Morelos' goalscoring record at Rangers
The then-21-year-old arrived at Ibrox ahead of the 2017/18 campaign after a terrific return of 46 goals and 13 assists in 62 appearances for Helsinki.
Rangers brought in the promising youngster to lead the line for them after his sensational goalscoring form in Finland, and they were richly rewarded for their £1m investment.
Whilst Morelos eventually departed on a free transfer in the summer of 2023, which meant that the club did not profit from him from a financial point of view, the Gers profited from his talent on the pitch for a number of years.
The Colombia international racked up an eye-catching 124 goals and 58 assists in 269 appearances in all competitions for the Scottish giants in seven years, which is a fantastic return of one goal or assist every 1.48 matches on average.
His best season for goals and assists came during the 2018/19 campaign as he came close to averaging a goal involvement every game with 42 in 48 matches.
Premiership
30
18
8
Europa League
13
4
4
League Cup
2
4
0
SFA Cup
3
4
0
Total
48
30
12
As you can see in the table above, Morelos was a prolific scorer, with 30 goals in 48 games, and provided his teammates with quality creativity to go along with his strikes.
Overall, the now-Santos forward was a hugely successful signing for the Gers due to his consistent level of production in the final third over the course of more than half a decade at Ibrox.
His fantastic goalscoring record after being signed for just £1m further illustrates how Rangers were rinsed by Beattie, who was signed for £500k more and offered significantly less on the pitch.
