Simon Ferry has hailed Rangers capture of Tom Lawrence as a 'statement' signing.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst moved to bring in the former Derby County man as he continues his summer rebuild in his attempts to win back the Premiership title from rivals Celtic this season. He's one of a host of stars including Antonio Colak and Rabbi Matondo who have pitched up at Ibrox this summer, and former Hoops man reckons the Light Blues' European exploits last term would've been a big pull for the midfielder.
Speaking on behalf of Grosvenor Sport, the Open Goal Broomhill FC boss said: "Tom Lawrence is a statement signing from Rangers. He can play anywhere across the front three and is a great replacement for Joe Aribo. Seeing Rangers in Europe last year would've been a big pull. Players would've seen the atmosphere at Ibrox and looked at the calibre of the teams they beat last year and probably thought they were fed up with the Championship and wanted to play in European finals.
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"Rangers' European run has definitely allowed them to attract better players."
The Ibrox men face a huge second leg Champions League qualifier with Union Saint-Gilloise after suffering a two-nil defeat in the first meeting.
The duo go head-to-head once again this week with Monaco or PSV waiting in the play-off round to reach the lucrative tournament proper.
Ferry knows Rangers simply can't afford to lose the second leg but is in no doubt they will reach the next round of the competition.
He said: "Rangers can turn it around. Losing [Joe] Aribo and Calvin Bassey is massive and it'll take time to rebuild. The new players need time to get to know each other and we saw that in the first leg.
"I think it's all about the bedding in period for Rangers. We saw it with Celtic last year and it took them a while to get into their rhythm.
"Rangers can't afford to lose the second leg and I have no doubt that with the way they played at Ibrox last year, along with the atmosphere, they'll go through."
On domestic matters, both Glasgow clubs got off to the perfect start with victories over Aberdeen and Livingston in the season openers.
Both are back in action later today with the Hoops facing a trip to Dingwall while Rangers welcome Kilmarnock to Ibrox.
On where the league crown will end up next May, Ferry added: "Celtic are already the team to beat and I think they'll win the league.
"Aberdeen did very well to keep the score at 1-0 at the weekend. I think Ange Postecoglou is very clear on what he wants. He's had a year in the job now and everyone can see his style - compared to the first game of last season it's like night and day.
"This season, Ange has got the squad that he wants and kept the core of his team whilst adding a couple that he wanted as well.
"Rangers have lost their two best players in Calvin Bassey and Joe Aribo, but they have signed well. Tom Lawrence is a really good player but you never know how people will react to playing for Celtic and Rangers - they could be good players elsewhere but when you play in Scotland the pressure is completely different to anywhere else.
"I would make Celtic favourites for the league purely because they've been able to keep hold of their best players."
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