Rangers in talks to 'exit' £20m deal after admission - Keith Wyness

Rangers are "definitely" working towards an exit from their merchandise deal with sportswear brand Castore.

That is according to former Aberdeen chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that the Ibrox outfit are trying to "push forward" their merchandise sales.

Rangers initially penned a five-year deal with Castore worth £20million back in 2020, but that deal has reportedly since been extended by a further seven years, despite Umbro now making the club's kits, and Castore still producing other merchandise.

Wyness believes that chairman Andrew Cavenagh is now actively searching for a way to get out of the deal, after recently making it clear that he doesn't agree with its terms.

The American recently told the Rangers Fan Advisory Board that he wouldn't have struck the deal with Castore at its current terms.

The agreement and the subsequent extension were both in place before he and the 49ers took charge at Ibrox, but they are now working to try to rectify that.

Rangers eye 'much bigger opportunity'

Aberdeen's former chief Wyness - who served as CEO at Pittodrie between 2000 and 2004 and now runs a consultancy business advising elite clubs - believes that Cavenagh wouldn't have made those comments publicly if he wasn't "preparing to exit" the Castore deal.

The Scottish businessman believes that Rangers feel they can secure a "much bigger opportunity" in terms of their future kit suppliers, and are looking to cut Castore as soon as possible.

Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider's Inside Track podcast, Wyness explained how Cavenagh's recent comments have made his plan obvious.

"For him to come out and say that means they're preparing for an exit, and he's saying that publicly. So yes, there's no way you'd be saying that if the work moves behind the scenes," he said.

"Rangers see that there's a much bigger opportunity on the kit deal. And this is where Cavanaugh's been strong and quite commercial about it. There'll be a way to negotiate an exit. And so that looks like it's definitely going to happen. 

"But it looks like Rangers are pushing forward on the merchandise. The Old Firm have always had this big opportunity for merchandise on a global basis. They've never really exploited it properly, in my view. So hopefully they've got a plan, and they can push this forward."

Rangers could spend big after £35m development

Football Insider revealed earlier this week that the possibility of Rangers spending big on a new signing in January still cannot be ruled out.

The Glasgow giants splashed £35m on new additions to their group in the summer, but could be called into action once again in the market.

Sources say that while Rangers have no plans for a busy January at the moment, there is further money to be spent if a gap emerges in the squad.

Derek McInnes' side are currently unbeaten in their last eight games in all competitions, a run of form that has fired them back into league title contention.