Mark Allen Reckons Gers Have Struck Gold

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Rangers new boy Connor Goldson can become a star in Scotland, insists Ibrox director of football Mark Allen

The defender became the Ibrox club's SIXTH signing of the summer upon his arrival and Allen reckons he will bring Premier League quality to the team.

By Andy Devlin

 

HE is a Premier League player in all but status. The kind of character Rangers have been crying out for.

And in luring him from Brighton, Ibrox director of football Mark Allen reckons Gers have struck Gold.

Time will tell if £3.2million was money well spent but Allen is already convinced defender Connor Goldson is destined to a be star in Scotland.

He said: “I think if you look at Connor he is a Premier League centre-back who found himself unluckily out of favour at Brighton with the two centre-backs there.

“Lewis Dunk and Shane Duffy have had outstanding seasons so it was very difficult for Connor to break through. “But all the attributes that we are looking for in terms of leadership, physical stature, strength are there. “He is quite quick, he moves with the ball well.

“All of those tick the box in terms of the type of footballer we want to bring to the football club. “He was keen to come so it was just a case of negotiation and away we went.”

Goldson became Steven Gerrard’s SIXTH signing of a hectic summer when he joined Gers 24 hours after fellow defender Nikola Katic checked in.

The 21-year-old Croatian penned a four-year deal when he moved from Slaven Belupo for £2m.

Allen revealed: “I am very conscious of that market. I think there are some excellent players in that neck of the woods.

“Very good technically, very robust and strong. Nikola was on a target list for us for some time. “We are well aware of him and it became a case of making sure that all the dots joined.

“Making sure all the clips and all the information we had on him added up, making sure there was a meeting of the minds and then going back to the club and seeing what we could do.

“We have made a couple of signings early doors so that took a little bit of time and a bit of negotiation, but we’re very happy to have got those two over the line.”

Goldson and Katic followed Scott Arfield, Allan McGregor and Jamie Murphy in moving to Ibrox.

Gerrard and his squad head for their pre-season training camp in Spain later today, with more new arrivals expected to follow in due course.

Allan insisted: “It’s a long window, it’s not a rush job in terms of getting everything done right away. “Wherever there is an obvious one to try to get over the line, we’ve done that.

“We did that with Connor and Nikola, and Allan and Scott were clear targets early doors. “All of those lined up nicely and we were totally cohesive, myself and Steven, on that. “It was a case then of trying to get the deals done.”

Like Goldson, the lure of working for Gerrard was a major factor in Katic’s decision to move to Glasgow.

Allen always knew that would be the case when he first set his sights on bringing the Anfield legend to Gers.

And while many have branded the move a risk for both parties, Allen believes Gerrard’s appointment at Ibrox was a no-brainer.

He stressed: “I don’t think you can ignore Steven’s pull. It is immense in that respect. He gives that extra credence to what we are trying to do. “People say it’s a gamble — I would say define gamble.

“When I was looking for a manager there were certain characteristics that I was looking for — leadership, experience of winning and the third thing is being able to cope with adversity.

“Because we all know it is a tough old world out there, particularly in this neck of the woods. “So when you look at those three attributes and you think: Leadership?

“He ticks that box. Has he got a winning mentality? I would think it would be very hard to say that he hasn’t got a winning mentality. “And then you look at the adversity. Well, I think he has had good and bad times. So from that perspective the gamble part doesn’t really compute with me.

“It was more the managerial characteristics. If you look at the surrounding team as well, it is a well-balanced backroom staff. “One person’s strength plays off against somebody else’s and different people take different aspects of that.

“So I didn’t see it as a gamble, I must be honest. “I saw it as a fantastic opportunity to bring a top individual to a football club — a football club that is moving in the right direction.”

https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/football/2795437/rangers-connor-goldson-scotland-mark-allen/