Michael Beale's Rangers summer transfer spend claim blown apart by club's OWN accounts

The true cost of Michael Beale's Rangers rebuild over the summer has been laid bare.

The former Ibrox boss was backed heavily to put his own stamp on the squad he inherited. The Londoner got the chequebook out to bring in the likes of Sam Lammers, Cyriel Dessers, Danilo and Jose Cifuentes for significant fees. Jack Butland, Dujon Sterling and Kieran Dowell arrived on free transfers while Abdallah Sima was a loan ... although the freebies will still have included signing-on and agent fees.

Beale was keen to stress that reports over the fees paid were "way off" what was being claimed – seemingly refuting that new strikers Dessers, Lammers and Danilo cost them close to £14m between them. Of their new signings, only Butland has been an undisputed hit with others like Dessers coming in in for heavy criticism since arriving. The new arrivals' early dud displays contributed to Beale receiving his jotters and being replaced by Philippe Clement, who has overseen a marked upturn in fortunes for the Light Blues.

Beale's claims put Gers' total summer transfer spend at around £13m. However, the club accounts published on Monday showed that £21million was splashed on new recruits. That's a slightly higher figure than the raw fees reported, but squares up once agent and signing-on payments are factored in.

The club accounts read: "The financial performance, couple with new investment received last year, allowed the board to invest heavily in the men's and women's squads and the stadium. A squad investment of £17.5million in the year under review, adds to the £7.5million in the previous year and was supplemented by a further £21m of net spend since the year end, in the summer transfer window."

How many of the new signings will still be