Rangers will have to splash out £2.7million to sign Bongani Zungu if the South African impresses enough to win a permanent deal.
MailSport can reveal that was the fee agreed between the Premiership giants and French Ligue 2 club Amiens when he joined Steven Gerrard’s side on loan on transfer deadline day.
The 28-year-old had a deal that was up at the end of this season and he would have been able to sign a pre-contract with Gers in January.
But Zungu agreed to extend his deal with recently relegated Amiens until 2022 to ensure the club he has been with for the last four years would receive a transfer fee when he finally departs for good.
An option-to-buy clause was inserted into his loan deal with the fee almost £1 million less than the figure Rangers were quoted when they first expressed an interest in the 29-times-capped Bafana Bafana star in June.
Zungu could have sat tight in France for 12 months when he would have become a free agent and that would have allowed him to cash in by landing a more lucrative move next summer.
But a source at Amiens said: “There was a real common interest to get this deal done among all three parties and it works for everyone.
“Bongani is a fair man and this tells you about him. He had no desire to become a free agent next year and therefore potentially make himself more money because he felt he owed the club something.
“He also had a hunger to join Rangers immediately and try to help them fight for trophies in Scotland so this really was a win-win situation for all concerned.”
The Light Blues now have until the end of May before they have to make a decision on whether to make the deal permanent.
If they opt against keeping Zungu he will return to Amiens who don’t expect him to stay at the club for his 12-month extension.
