Rangers have not been shy in cashing in on some players during previous transfer windows over the past few years.

The most recent example was full-back Nathan Patterson, who was sold by the Ibrox club to the Premier League during the previous January transfer window in a deal worth a reported £16m.

One other player on whom the Gers cashed in over the last few years, in a move they could now be regretting, is Josh Windass.

In the summer of 2016, Rangers secured the midfielder on a free transfer from Accrington Stanley. During his time in Scotland, the Englishman scored 19 goals and provided 13 assists in 79 appearances across all competitions before he was sold to Wigan Athletic in 2018 for £2.5m.

While this may have seemed like a good move from the Gers from a financial point of view given the profit they made on him, they may now be wishing they had kept hold of him for a little longer.

In two seasons in the Championship with the Lancashire club, Windass racked up nine goals and four assists in 56 appearances before joining Sheffield Wednesday on loan in January 2020. He eventually signed for the Owls on a permanent deal later that year.

With nine appearances under his belt for the Owls in the second half of the 2019/20 campaign, the former Ibrox midfielder – who is currently valued at £1.8m by Transfermarkt – found the net on three occasions.

Despite ultimately getting relegated to League One at the end of last season, the Englishman was a shining light for the Yorkshire club by racking up more goal contributions than any other player, with nine goals and five assists to his name.

This season has seen the dynamo, who has been hailed as a “constant threat” on the pitch in an attacking sense by Sky Sports pundit Sue Smith, score four goals and deliver one assist in just seven appearances in League One. That has earned him an overall performance rating of 7.17/10, making him their third-highest rated player according to WhoScored.

Taking into account his consistent goal contributions from midfield since leaving Ibrox, it can be said that Mark Allen may have made a mistake by choosing to cash in on Windass rather than keeping him at Rangers as a useful attacking squad option.

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