Profit Players: Rangers and Josh Windass

This article forms part of our Profit Players feature series, which is where Football Transfer Tavern takes a look at how well a player has fared since being signed or sold, using statistical figures and statements from pundits to prove how good of a deal the club managed to achieve.

Josh Windass was brought to Ibrox from Accrington Stanley for a small transfer fee of just £60,000 by then-manager Mark Warburton in 2016 (Daily Record) in a deal that proved to be a rather big coup for Rangers.

The attacking midfielder managed to make 73 appearances for the Gers during his short spell with the club, scoring 19 goals and providing his team-mates with 13 assists – figures not too dissimilar to those he managed to compile while with the League Two outfit (Transfermarkt).

However, when Wigan Athletic came in with an offer of around £2.5m in 2018 for the now 25-year-old, Rangers were right to snap their hands off and let the player leave Glasgow.

Gerrard revealed Windass wanted to talk to the Latics about the possibility of joining them as the manager admitted he would not be able to guarantee playing the attacking midfielder in his favoured position, although he stated he would have been able to give him the minutes he wanted.

Speaking to the Daily Record, he said: “Wigan got to a number the board were happy with and they put the decision in the hands of me and Mark Allen.

“I spoke to Josh and asked what he wanted to do and he made it clear he wanted to speak to Wigan. I wouldn’t stand in anyone’s way if they want to play for another team in their favourite position.

“Josh wants to be a number nine every game for Rangers and I couldn’t guarantee that. I could guarantee him football matches but maybe in different positions and formations.”

It would seem as though Gerrard would have been right in regards to not being able to play Windass in his preferred position as the Light Blues generally appear to set up in a rather attacking 4-3-3 system on more occasions than not (Transfermarkt).

Indeed, Wigan have given him the opportunity to play in his favoured position 30 times in his 42 appearances for the Championship outfit since joining them, although his figures perhaps leave a little to be desired. In those 30 matches, Windass has managed to contribute just five goals and three assists (Transfermarkt).

The 25-year-old would have likely had more matches for Paul Cook’s side this season if he did not pick up the calf injury in training that has seen him miss the last six matches (Wigan Today).

Windass might be having a decent spell at the Latics in the Championship – an average of 1.6 shots per game and 0.9 key passes last season and four shots per match with 1.5 key passes in his opening two so far (WhoScored) – however, that does not appear to be value for money when £2.5m was spent on him.

Rangers, therefore, appear right to have cashed in on him at the time that they did as it is a fee that perhaps they would not be able to get for him now if he was still on the club’s books.