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as Rino Gattuso provides inside track on 'bargain' transfer. Steven Gerrard is poised to make the Swedish centre-back his eighth signing of the summer as he closes in on a move from Bologna. What's a million euros here or there to a guy like Rino Gattuso? We are talking here, after all, about a man who only a few months ago waived his right to a massive pay-off from AC Milan when he was sacked as manager and instructed the club to share it out amongst his coaching staff instead. That’s the thing about winning World Cups and Champions Leagues. The rewards which come with these glories don’t half help to provide a different sense of perspective. But there’s still a bit of the Glaswegian left inside Gattuso – a legacy of his early playing days at Rangers – which mean he also has an eye for a bargain. And even though he was unsure yesterday as to exactly how much his old club will end up shelling out in order to sign Filip Helander from Bologna – there were reports in Italy yesterday claiming the final bill may rise to around £6m – Gattuso is certain of one thing. That Steven Gerrard has landed himself a bargain. “I like this player,“ Gattuso growled in his trademark gruff tone as he broke off from a family holiday in Spain to speak to Record Sport about Gerrard’s intended raid on Serie A. “He has a good Scandinavian mentality and he’s not a bad defender. I heard today from Italy that the price is around 5m euros – and that’s a good price for him. “Yes, it’s big money for Rangers but he’s a good player at that price when you consider the market at this moment. It’s incredible that some players are costing 50 or 55m euros. For 5m euros Rangers have done good business.” For what it’s worth, sources at Ibrox remain adamant that Helander’s final fee will be a great deal closer to their original bid of £3.5m. But, in Gattuso’s book at least, a discussion about the precise numbers involved in Gerrard’s eighth purchase of the summer sales is an exercise in splitting hairs. The one-time midfield warrior has always focused more on the value a player brings with him onto a pitch. And in Helander he likes what he sees. The same can’t automatically be said of Bologna manager Sinisa Mihajlovic? You can almost see Gattuso shrugging his shoulders as he blows out a sigh of heavy contempt on the other end of the line. Mihajlovic kicked Helander to the kerb midway through last season after answering an S.O.S from Bologna who had slipped into serious relegation contention under Gattuso’s former AC Milan team-mate Filippo Inzaghi. Enter ex-Inter talisman Mihajlovic at the end of January. That the Serb managed to lead Bologna to the comfort of a 10th-placed finish in Serie A does not appear to have particularly impressed Gattuso. Nor for that matter the decision to leave Helander sitting on the sidelines for so long. Gattuso said: “People say he had a difficult last season in Serie A but for the first two or three months he actually played very well. “He only had some problems in the last few months under the new manager. So five million euros or whatever is a god price for him. “He’s a good coach. His decision not to play me is to do with football reasons. “Despite the last few months, I believe I have had a good season. Okay, it wasn’t productive for me at the end of the season because I wasn’t paying, but the team produced some excellent results and I’m a team player. “And I think I have become a much better player since I moved to Bologna three years ago.” All of which demonstrates precisely the sort of battling qualities which are so attractive to a warhorse such as Gattuso. In fact, as far as the little Italian concerned, it’s impossible to put a price on a positive mental attitude like that. He said: “The one thing you can say without any doubt is that Helander will be up for the fight in Scottish football. “When you play at a club like Rangers you have to always be up for the fight and Helander is at.” https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-transfer-news/what-filip-helander-bring-rangers-17991907

Jurgen Klopp has disappointed Steven Gerrard and Leeds by blocking another loan move for Ryan Kent. Gerrard was keen to re-sign Kent after he impressed on loan last season at Ibrox, scoring six goals in 43 appearances for Rangers. Leeds head coach Marcelo Bielsa also wanted to sign the left winger, who has made just one senior appearance for Liverpool in the FA Cup in 2016, for next season. But Klopp wants to hang on to Kent because he is missing his first-choice front three and the academy product will be involved in pre-season, starting with Thursday's game against Tranmere in Liverpool’s first friendly . Klopp will also include Kent in his squad for Sunday’s match against Bradford and will take him on the club’s US tour. Kent, 22, has spent the last four campaigns out on loan and had spells at Coventry, Barnsley, Freiburg and Bristol City before joining Rangers for last season. Last season he won Rangers' Young Player of the Year award, and he also included in the PFA Scotland Team of the Year. Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino will all miss the game against Tranmere as all three have recently been on international duty. It means the likes of Kent will get the opportunity to impress Klopp, with other promising young players such as striker Rhian Brewster and midfielder Curtis Jones also set to be involved. https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/liverpool-reject-offer-rangers-leeds-17905335

Kelly Joins Ayr On Loan https://rangers.co.uk/news/academy-news/kelly-joins-ayr-on-loan/

RANGERS Football Club are delighted to announce that Josh McPake has signed a contract extension keeping him at the club until 2022. https://rangers.co.uk/news/academy-news/mcpake-signs-contract-extension/

Cammy Palmer has joined Partick Thistle on loan. https://rangers.co.uk/news/academy-news/palmer-heads-out-on-loan/

STEVEN GERRARD reckons Sheyi Ojo has what it takes to become an Ibrox superstar. The on-loan Liverpool ace marked his European debut with a goal in Rangers’ 4-0 rout of St Joseph’s. Ryan Jack, Borna Barisic and Alfredo Morelos were also on target as Gers all-but booked their place in the second qualifying round. Gerrard said: “Listen, Sheyi has got all the attributes and if this doesn’t work it will be because of Sheyi. “He has got everything in the locker, he is quick, he is strong, he is powerful, he takes on information. “From a manager’s point of view, you know he is going to take on the tactical information, you see him chasing back and making fouls and getting yellow cards. “He knows that he needs to make this work. He is delighted to be here, he has settled in well and the fans are having him. “Now he has got to build on that. Towards the end, I could see him coming down slightly. “I want him to be ruthless from start to finish and he will get the numbers that he wants and that will satisfy everyone.” Gerrard - who ruled out a move for Slavia Prague defender Simon Deli - revealed he’s closing in on his eighth summer signing. The Gers boss said: “It will be a permanent deal for a defender. There is still a way to go but we have had some progress in the last couple of days. “If things progress as they have in the last 48 hours, I’m hoping something will get done by the end of the week.” Rangers were ruthless as they scored four second half goals in Gibraltar. Yet Gerrard insists there is still much more to come from his side. He said: “We have got plenty to go and I think we are only 70 per cent or 80 per cent in terms of being match fit and tuned in. “Scotty Arfield has just joined us so he will boost us again. We are in a good place, we are happy where we are up until now. “Opposition like this is always a potential banana skin. It’s all about your mentality and attitude and across the park today we all turned up. “If you take it back 12 months, you have to consider were weren’t match fit when we went to face FC Shkupi and we’re still not match fit so everything is against us - the conditions, the pitch, we’re not match fit, so it can be tricky at times and in the first half we did try to force it at times but we showed a great attitude and professionalism throughout. “We backed ourselves the goals would come when we showed the patience. We’re a lot further forward than we were 12 months ago. “Back then we came in and took over a job and there were a lot of things that needed to change and a lot of information we had to get to the players and it was going to take time to get the tactics across. “At the start of last season, we had 23 players and everything was new to every one of them. We are a lot further forward than we were.” https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/football/4465524/steven-gerrard-sheyi-ojo-rangers-superstar/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1562698858

Summary: Candeias creates more Goal Scoring chances from open play than any other player in the league (A Goal Scoring Chance is a shot that comes from the heart of the penalty area or a header from within the 6 yard box) Identifying the Game Changing Playmakers in the Scottish Premiership https://www.modernfitba.com/blogs/2019/5/2/identifying-the-game-changing-playmakers-in-the-scottish-premiership