Rangers managed to navigate the January transfer window without losing any of their key first-team players, with the likes of Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent remaining at Ibrox.

They did cash in on Nathan Patterson as Premier League side Everton handed them a club-record fee for the youngster, but he was the second-choice at right-back to James Tavernier.

However, they have previously let go of key players and one star they allowed to leave - on deadline day - in 2018 was forward Josh Windass and Rangers endured a big howler over his exit.

Sporting director - at the time - Mark Allen decided to accept a £2.5m bid from Wigan after he produced 18 goals and eight assists in the 2017/18 campaign.

Speaking about his exit later that year, the forward said: "I continued playing out wide, played in the European games, got to deadline day and I got a text saying Wigan have had a bid accepted from Rangers of £2.5m and I'm like, 'accepted, £2.5m?.

"So I messaged the gaffer because I couldn't find him at the ground and said to him 'is this true?' and he just said meet me in the changing room.

"So I went to meet him and had a chat and he's said 'you have a decision to make' and I always wanted to go play in England but in my head I was thinking, 'I got 26 goals and assists in a team that wasn't great for Rangers and they're accepting £2.5m?'

"I'm thinking 'well if I'm going to play out wide then I'm off' because if you think you can accept that for a player who has contributed that much in terms of goals and in terms of assists - maybe not always in terms of performances but in terms of numbers then see ye in a bit."

Allen had a nightmare with this deal for several reasons, with the first being the way the situation was handled - according to Windass - as he accepted an offer that the player believed was less than his actual worth. This suggests that the Gers undersold him and missed out on a bigger payday.

The former Ibrox chief also had a howler as the forward has since kicked on as a player. Transfermarkt valued him at £585k at the time of the move and at the time of writing (14/02/22) he is valued at £1.80m after spells at Wigan and now Sheffield Wednesday.  This is a 202% increase since his exit from Rangers and he could still improve further as he is in the peak years of his career at the age of 28.

Last season in the English Championship, Windass scored an impressive nine goals and provided six assists despite Wednesday's relegation to League One - where he has scored four goals in seven matches. This shows that he still has the quality to score and create goals on a regular basis, following on from his form with the Gers.

Therefore, Allen allowing him to leave in 2018 was a nightmare for Rangers as they missed out on both a potentially bigger payday further down the line due to his development and having a better player in their ranks as his increasing value suggests that he has improved as a player.

He could have been a major player under Steven Gerrard and now Gio van Bronckhorst but, instead, Gers fans will now be wondering what could have been...

AND in other news, Big flop: £3.1k-p/w Rangers lightweight has been draining Wilson's budget for 54 weeks...