Barry Ferguson despaired as Rangers missed out on the chance to sign Lewis Ferguson.
The Ibrox hero had hoped his nephew Lewis would be signed from Aberdeen by Rangers in a transfer deal.
However, the midfielder headed for Italy and has flourished at Bologna in a standout campaign in Serie A.
Now, Ferguson has called for Rangers to learn from their mistake in not signing Ferguson, by completing deals for two other emerging Scottish Premiership stars.
The former Rangers captain reckons Philippe Clement should consider transfer deals to land Connor Barron from Aberdeen and Lennon Miller from Motherwell.
Barron, 21, is out of contract at Pittodrie this summer meaning a compensation fee would be required to sign the promising midfielder.
Miller, meanwhile, is under contract at Fir Park until May 2025 with the 17-year-old earning serious plaudits for his campaign this season.
While Ferguson understands the need for recruitment from beyond Scotland, he reckons Barron and Miller could follow a previous trend at Rangers in successful signings from within the Scottish game - evidenced by Kris Boyd, Steven Naismith and Kevin Thompson.
In his Daily Record column, Ferguson commented: "Lennon Miller is the young man who has jumped out at me every time I have seen him play. The Motherwell kid has unbelievable talent. I was at the game where he came off the bench at Ibrox for his league debut.
"He was 16-years-old, Motherwell were losing and it was a massive moment for such a young player. But he was demanding the ball from his team mates, some double his age. It was brilliant to watch. From that moment I knew there was a player there.
"Connor Barron is another. When I have watched him play for Aberdeen or Scotland U21s I’ve liked what I’ve seen. He would be available this summer on a compensation fee. What a snip.
"I go back to our Lewis. I would have loved to have seen him move to Ibrox. For whatever reason Rangers missed the boat. Whether the manager at the time didn’t fancy him or what I do not know."
