Rangers insider shares takeover talks with 49ers and what he demanded from them amid progress reality check
A former chairman at Rangers has discussed his role in bringing the 49ers to Ibrox as part of a takeover.
A Rangers insider has shared his views on the 49ers takeover and his role in getting them across the water.
Dave King is a former chairman at Rangers but still owns around 12.96 per cent of the club through his New Oasis Asset Company. He was introduced to American healthcare tycoon Andrew Kavenagh and had conversations with him in 2024, setting the wheels in motion for him to join a US consortium backed by 49ers Enterprises to take charge at Rangers.
The ex chairman has now provided the inside track on those initial talks with the Rangers takeover kingpins. He has provided his verdict on what he wanted to see from the possible new custodians.
What 49ers and co had to offer in Rangers takeover
He told the Rangers Review: “My top criteria based on previous discussions with parties who were interested in investing was proof of funds. And when I asked them for proof of funds, my basis for the calculation, which I went through with Andrew at the time, was the amount of funds required for a number of transfer windows.
"It wasn't about getting it done in the first window because I really think we're so short that we're back to almost the discussion I had with Steven in 2018. At that point the chat was ‘OK, you're coming in. We've got a team that's grossly inadequate in terms of competing for the title.’ His question was ‘do we know that we've got an amount of funds?’
"So the discussion with Andrew and the 49ers back in November was around me knowing that they had the funds available, not that they had to be spent immediately, because I think it would be unwise to spend them immediately. But at least to know that over a period of time and over a number of transfer windows.”
Key 49ers task at Rangers named
King also believes the recruitment strategy is something that the 49ers will need to get to work on, admitting the reality is that the rebuild will be a slow burner, not a quick fix They are also still hunting a permanent successor to Philippe Clement after caretaker Barry Ferguson’s return to an ambassador role.
He added: “I wanted to know that once they got a manager, they were going to back him and slowly bridge the gap, because I think we've gone backwards over the last couple of seasons. The whole transfer policy has been so wrong. I look at the quality of the players, the amount of money was spent on them.
"And I can even get some of the guys maybe getting a bit overawed with Ibrox. But sometimes just the lack of effort and the lack of character and temperament was something I wouldn’t expect of a Rangers player performing in front of that crowd. “I do think the build will be an awful lot slower and longer than I think we would like. But I think it's going to be necessary to do it in a phased basis."