In the late 90s Rangers were really throwing the cash around in the transfer market.
£4m on Jorg Albertz. £5m on Lorenzo Amoruso. £5m on Giovanni van Bronckhorst. £5.5m on Andrei Kanchelskis.
They had even grander ambitions.
Dominance had been achieved on the domestic scene. They won 10 titles between 1990 and 2000 with Celtic only breaking their grasp in 1997/98.
Ibrox wanted what Celtic had achieved 30 years earlier - a European Cup. David Murray was willing to break the bank and rack up the debt to do so - let's not forget they spent £12m on Tore Andre Flo in 2000.
Three years prior though, Murray was willing to spend even more money on an incredible transfer.
In 1997, the club offered £20 million for Ronaldo. At the time, the Brazilian was viewed as the best player in the world. The following summer, he would light up the World Cup.
According to Ronaldo's agent Giovanni Branchini what was remarkable was not just the amount of money. The deal would have meant the then 21-year-old only playing in European games - what he would have done the remainder of the time is unclear.
Ronaldo was with Barcelona at the time and his negotiations over a long-term deal at the Camp Nou had hit problems. Rangers were one of the clubs hoping to take advantage of his £20m release clause.
The clause in his contract was a novelty at the time and it scared a lot of clubs off.
The three who were really interested were Inter, Lazio and Glasgow Rangers, who followed negotiations all the way.
The offer from Glasgow Rangers was incredible.
They told us he didn't have to play on a Saturday in the Scottish League. They were desperate to win the Champions League and were going to allow him to play in the European matches only.
But Inter had followed him from when he used to play in Brazil. Barcelona reneged on a new contract and Inter were the first club to meet the release clause, so he went there.
The player would indeed move on from Barca that summer - to Inter Milan.
Rangers European exploits that season would fall well short of their lofty ambitions. They exited the Champions League at the qualifier stage to IFK Gothenburg while they were eliminated from the UEFA Cup in the first round.
[HeraldScotland.com]
