Connor Goldson details Rangers exit

Connor Goldson has revealed the details behind his Rangers exit, claiming Philippe Clement told him the board wanted him off the wage bill before he left Ibrox.

Speaking on the Open Goal podcast, the defender said the instruction came from above the manager and left him with a clear choice to make.

It is the fullest account yet of the Connor Goldson Rangers exit, more than six years after Steven Gerrard signed him from Brighton for £3 million in 2018.

Connor Goldson outlines Rangers departure under Philippe Clement

Goldson said Clement called him into his office and explained that his contract had become too expensive for the club to carry.

He was blunt about where the message had come from.

“I think it comes from above. First, it comes from the manager. He pulled me into the office said the club say my contract was too high and they want me to leave,” said the Midlands man.

According to Goldson, that conversation marked the start of a process he had not expected and did not welcome, given everything he felt he had put into the club since arriving from Brighton.

Open Goal interview reveals wage contract dispute and Clement discussions

Goldson said his first reaction was to refuse. He felt his six years of service at Ibrox had earned him the right to see out his deal on his own terms.

“And I was like, ‘well, I’m not leaving.’ I feel like I earned the contract for what I’ve given to you.

“And from what I’ve given you for six years – I killed myself to give you everything I’ve got – you can’t now come back to me and go, ‘ah, sorry, we don’t want it.'”

The defender then made a striking claim about the financial side of his exit.

Goldson claimed that Rangers agreed to pay half of his final year’s salary so that a move to Cyprus could go ahead, with his new club unwilling to meet the full package on offer.

“I couldn’t believe it, and I probably should never ever say this, but the contract I was getting in Cyprus, the owner was like, ‘I’m going to need money off Rangers.’

“So Rangers paid for me to leave. I know that’s going to sound mental but Rangers paid half of my last year’s contract here for me to leave.

“So then you’re like, ‘they want me to leave.’ So I was like, ‘what can I do?”

Impact on Rangers squad rebuild and Ibrox tactical context

Goldson also relayed what he says Clement told him about the board’s thinking on the squad as a whole.

The manager indicated that the plan had changed since the previous season.

“I didn’t want this to happen but the club said it was going to keep last year’s team and add a couple more players and was really going to attack Celtic.

“But now they’ve completely gone against that and they’re saying that all the ones on decent money need to go and I need to start again.”

That account fits with rebuild warnings around his exit that emerged once his move to Cyprus was confirmed.

The message from Clement, as Goldson tells it, was that higher earners across the squad were being moved on to fund a fresh approach.

All of this played out under the previous ownership at Ibrox, prior to the arrival of Andrew Cavenagh and the 49ers consortium.