New Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has confirmed that he is in France to conduct a personal scouting mission at the Toulon Tournament as the club’s transfer window kicks into overdrive.
The Liverpool and England legend officially took over at Ibrox on Friday following the end of his commitments both with the Reds as well as with the media, but spent the day in Marseille rather than Glasgow as part of his coaching training with the Football Association.
He revealed that his time in France was more than just to study and that he had been watching the under-21 tournament with a keen eye to prospective signings, stating that the phone had been off the hook as the Light Blues ramp up their business having already signed three new recruits.
He told the Daily Record: “There’s a level of footballer here which, of course, would interest me.
“I’m on the Pro-Licence but whilst I’m here I want to kill two birds with one stone. I want to see what talent is here and if there’s anyone that interests me.
“I’ve got tasks to do within the course but I’ve also got a wandering eye on what’s going on with certain individual players.
“The phone has been non-stop. Obviously I’ve been working really closely with Mark and Andy in terms of the targets we want to bring in – and also talking about players we’ve already got.
“There’s loads of work to do, I think everyone is aware of that.”
Opinion
Just having Steven Gerrard’s name associated with the club has been a massive boost for Rangers and the sort of contacts he will have in the footballing world will held them to no end. If he spots a young player that he wants to sign in France this summer, and that starlet is told that Gerrard wants him at Ibrox, there will be few who would not be star struck by the prospect. He might not be a scout but having worked as a youth coach for a while, he knows what he is looking for when watching these stars of the future. Many of those out in France this month will be up for loan from their parent clubs in a bid to get them game time and experience and with the Gers working to a pretty strict budget, any cheap deals that they can get on board would be a massive help.