David Healy believes Rangers midfielder Steven Davis would have received a better press and more plaudits if he was from Buenos Aires and not Ballymena.
Davis, who captained Northern Ireland at the Euro 2016 finals in France, has enjoyed a glittering career spanning 18 years and almost 850 games for club and country.
But in the modern social media world of glitzy highlight reels and viral soundbites, the understated 37-year-old has more often than not flown under the radar.
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“Let’s face it, if Steve had been Argentinian, Spanish, Italian or French, journalists and people would be raving about him,” said Healy of his former international teammate.
“If he had come into the English Premier League as an Argentinian instead of being from Cullybackey outside Ballymena, he would have been talked about a lot more.
“He would have gotten a better press. I know Brendan Rodgers had a little sniff when he was Liverpool manager and he maybe ended up signing Joe Allen around that time.
“I do believe if Steve hadn’t been from Ballymena or Northern Ireland, he would have ended up getting one of the really top moves. That’s how highly I rate him.”
Healy believes Rangers pulled off a masterstroke by retaining Davis on a one-year contract when it looked almost certain the veteran playmaker would leave Ibrox this summer.
The former Ibrox striker, now managing Linfield in the Irish League, said: “I always had a feeling Steve would play on and stay at Rangers because he’s a phenomenal talent and a brilliant man.
“It’s no surprise to me that he’s staying at Rangers. Whether he plays 80 percent of games, I don’t know, but he will certainly add to them.
“Some of the games he came on in for Rangers or started, he showed he still has that little bit of quality that will be needed. When he’s on it, he can play in really tight areas.
“He also knows and understands the football club so if the manager needs to discuss anything, Steve knows the dressing room inside out. He’s a manager’s dream and a player's dream.”
Davis, who has made 343 appearances for Rangers across two spells with the club, offered a reminder of his qualities at the end of last season.
He produced an impressive cameo off the bench and scored in the penalty shootout as the Old Firm giants suffered an agonising defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League final.
And the 138-times capped Northern Ireland skipper started the Scottish Cup final as the Light Blues won the blue riband trophy for the first time in 13 years.
Davis made his club debut at Aston Villa in 2004 and went on to play for Fulham, Southampton and Rangers across two spells, the first between 2008 and 2012.
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