Steven Gerrard has made former Arsenal coach Neil Banfield the latest addition to his staff at Rangers after adding him to the scouting department, according to The Times.
The newspaper report that Gerrard has hired Banfield as a scout at Ibrox, with this being the 56-year-old’s first job since leaving the Gunners in the summer following the departure of Arsene Wenger.
In total, Banfield spent more than 20 years with Arsenal, starting out as a coach in the academy and for the reserves before being appointed first-team coach for six years from 2012.
OPINION
This is a brilliant appointment from Gerrard as he looks to beef up his scouting department at Rangers. Banfield has extensive experience from his time at Arsenal and will bring all of that to the table as a scout for the Gers. The 56-year-old will know the Premier League inside out, and will be able to identify the kind of calibre of player which Gerrard will be looking to bring in at Ibrox. Recruitment is set to be key for Gerrard if he wants to make a success of his time at Rangers, with his current squad having several glaring gaps which need to be filled with the right players. There is no doubt that the club have already made progress under the Liverpool legend, but there is still a long way to go with the gap to the league leaders widening in recent weeks. A semi-final exit in the Betfred Cup was a big blow, and a couple of quality signings in the upcoming January window will help the club push on and make a success of this season and beyond.