

Kevin Thelwell is set to be appointed sporting director at Rangers.
The 51-year-old is due to leave the same role at Everton this summer when his contract expires and take up the position at the Scottish Premiership club.
Rangers have been without a sporting director since Ross Wilson departed the club to become chief football officer at Nottingham Forest in April 2023.
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The club moved away from that model and afforded the manager more power but in November 2024 they promoted head of recruitment Nils Koppen to technical director. Koppen is expected to remain at the club.
The Athletic reported in February that Rangers are the subject of a proposed takeover by a U.S. investor group comprising of health care mogul Andrew Cavenagh and 49ers Enterprises. The 49ers has owned Championship club Leeds United since July 2023.
The club has had a difficult season and sacked Philippe Clement as manager in February, replacing him with former player Barry Ferguson until the end of the season.
Rangers are 15 points off Celtic in the Scottish Premiership table after 33 matches.
What was Thelwell’s role at Everton?
Thelwell joined Everton in late February 2022 from New York Red Bulls and has been present during a turbulent time at the club, both on and of the pitch.
With Everton in special measures with the Premier League and an £800m stadium project to fund, the former Wolves chief was handed the unenviable task of reducing the wage bill, balancing the books through player trading while also keeping the club in the top flight.
Key man Richarlison was hastily sold to Tottenham Hotspur at the end of the 2021-22 season as part of a forlorn attempt at PSR compliance. Anthony Gordon joined Newcastle United six months later with the club needing urgent cash to keep the lights on. Alex Iwobi and Amadou Onana also left for Fulham and Aston Villa respectively. Those transfers brought in around £180million in total but left Everton scrapping for Premier League survival. Last season, they were deducted a combined eight points for two separate PSR breaches.
Thelwell was seen as a safe pair of hands at Everton; someone who had done a good job in the most challenging of circumstances. But after the arrival of new owners The Friedkin Group in December and the subsequent appointments of David Moyes as manager and Angus Kinnear as CEO, the decision was taken not to renew his contract. The club will not appoint a direct replacement, instead splitting his duties up between a number of new hires.
Thelwell has not been short of interest since news of his impending departure broke but will see Rangers as another opportunity to make his mark at a big club.
Additional reporting: Jordan Campbell
(Top photo: Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)
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