Glasgow Rangers missed out on landing the Premiership title last season after lifting the trophy and going unbeaten in the 2020/21 campaign.
Their arch-rivals pipped them to the crown in a season in which Gio van Bronckhorst was brought in to replace Steven Gerrard part-way into 2021/22, who left to back down south of the border.
Although they were unable to win their domestic league, the Dutch head coach was able to bring silverware back to Ibrox by winning the SFA Cup and led the Gers to the final of the Europa League – losing to Eintracht Frankfurt on penalties.
A large part of their recent successes could be put down to the work that has gone on in the transfer market to build the current group of players.
Gerrard arrived at the club in 2018 and one of his first signings in charge of the Light Blues was central defender Connor Goldson from Brighton in a deal reportedly worth around £3m and it has turned out to be a dream deal for all involved.
The £27k-per-week colossus hit the ground running at Ibrox as he played 54 times in all competitions in the 2018/19 campaign, helping them qualify for the group stages of the Europa League by playing in eight qualifiers in his first couple of months at the club.
He quickly established himself as a regular team and enjoyed his first taste of real success at Rangers in 2020/21 as he played a huge role in winning the title. Goldson started all 38 of their league matches as the Gers went unbeaten and kept 26 clean sheets to lift the Premiership trophy under Gerrard.
His former teammate Gordon Gree hailed him as being “strong” and The Athletic’s Jordan Campbell previously described him as a “monster”, which highlights the physicality he brings to the team at the back.
This has been backed up by his performances on the pitch in the Premiership in recent seasons. He won a whopping 68% of his individual duels in 2021/22, after winning 71% in 2020/21, and this shows that he is able to dominate the opposition and is not a liability from a physical point of view.
Goldson used his quality to help the club to another trophy last season as he made four appearances, and scored one goal, in the SFA Cup – starting in the final and keeping a clean sheet in a 2-0 win.
This means that, to date, Rangers have paid £1.5m per trophy won for the signing of Goldson and he has four years left on his contract to change that figure and make it even more impressive.
Along with his trophies, Goldson has also helped the club to make their return to the Champions League group stages – playing in all four of their qualifiers over the summer.
He has been a dream signing and, hopefully, he will only improve upon his legacy at Ibrox between now and the end of his deal in 2026.