Glasgow Rangers have had their fair share of terrible signings throughout the years, yet between 2016 and 2018, the Ibrox side seemed to make more bad signings than good.
Of course, the Light Blues didn’t exactly have a war chest available to spend, but some of the players Mark Warburton and Pedro Caixinha signed were clearly not the type to help the club return to the summit of Scottish football.
Mentioning names such as Joey Barton, Dalcio, Umar Sadiq and a host of others still sends shivers down the spines of the Ibrox faithful, yet one name stands out among most – Carlos Pena.
How much Rangers signed Carlos Pena for
Caixinha took over at the club in March 2017, enduring an underwhelming first few months, culminating in the club suffering arguably their worst-ever European result, losing to Progres Niederkorn 2-1 on aggregate.
That summer, the Portuguese manager made a host of signings in a bid to bolster his team ahead of the new season, but only Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Jack made a lasting impression at Ibrox.
Carlos Pena’s career statistics | ||
|---|---|---|
Club | Games | Goals |
Club Leon FC | 191 | 52 |
Deportivo Guadalajara | 43 | 8 |
CF Pachuca | 22 | 1 |
CD FAS | 21 | 4 |
Antigua FC | 16 | 4 |
Rangers | 14 | 5 |
Cruz Azul | 10 | 0 |
Necaxa | 9 | 0 |
Pena was one of the ‘signature’ arrivals, costing the club around £2.2m, and having represented Mexico at the latest World Cup, it looked like Rangers had signed a top-class player.
The move turned into a nightmare. Pena failed to settle in Glasgow, making just 14 appearances in all competitions, scoring five goals in the process. Once Caixinha was sacked, it became clear Pena had no future at the club, especially after his disappointing start to his career in Scotland.
Considering the club were not in Europe and had been promoted just a year prior, there was hardly plenty of money available to make poor decisions in the transfer market.
Rangers messed up by signing Carlos Pena
Out of all the signings the club made during this period of acclimatising back to the top flight, Pena was arguably the biggest drain on resources.
Overall, the Mexican midfielder cost the Gers around £440k per goal scored during his brief time in Glasgow, while he was reportedly taking home a wage of £26k-per-week, which was staggering at the time, particularly when you consider his lack of impact on the pitch at Ibrox.
He joined Cruz Azul on loan in January 2018, linking back up with Caixinha, but it took until February 2019 for the player to finally have his contract terminated at Ibrox, as Steven Gerrard wanted him off the wage bill.
In the 2022 Rangers Review, journalist Derek Clark stated that “ultimately, this was a disastrous transfer in what was an equally disastrous spell for the club” after the Court of Arbitration for Sport justified the reasons why Rangers terminated Pena’s contract earlier, and it looked as though a line was drawn under the whole saga.
The club have made some dreadful signings since returning to the Premiership in 2016, but Pena surely has to go down as one of the worst players to represent the club, when you factor in value for money.
