STEWART Robertson, the Rangers managing director, has promised the signing of Burnley midfielder Joey Barton will by no means be the only high-profile new arrival at Ibrox this summer.

Mark Warburton, the Rangers manager, has wasted little time in strengthening his squad since winning the Ladbrokes Championship and promotion to the Premiership last month.

He has secured Jordan Rossiter, the former Liverpool Academy Player of the Year, and Barton, who was named in the PFA Championship Team of the Year in England this season, on free transfers this month.

The services of Accrington Stanley duo Matt Crooks and Josh Windass had already been secured on pre-contract agreements back in January.

The capture of Barton, the one-time Manchester City, Newcastle United, Queens Park Rangers and England enforcer, has generated enormous excitement among the Rangers support.

Having defeated Celtic on penalties in the semi-final of the William Hill Scottish Cup at Hampden last month, many now believe Warburton’s side can challenge their city rivals for the Scottish title in the 2015/16 campaign.

Robertson revealed that Barton was the calibre of signing the Glasgow club would be targeting as they attempted to bolster their squad even further in the weeks to come.

“Joey Barton is a fantastic player, a big personality and a big character,” he said. “If we want to try to win the league next season we’ve got to bring in a decent standard of player.

“We’ve got the core of the team. We set out last year that the core of the team would be good enough to play in the Premiership, but we realised we’d need to add to that.

"The first objective was achieved when we won the Championship, the second objective is to try to win the Premiership and that means we’re going to have to bring in more players, more depth to the squad and more quality.

“There will certainly be other players coming in. It’s up to the individual how they perceive players and perceive their profile, but we’re certainly looking at a good quality of player.”

Rangers made a loss of £9.04 million in the year up to June 30, 2015, and required loans from their wealthy benefactors Dave King, George Letham, Douglas Park and George Taylor to remain solvent.

How, then, can the Ibrox club afford to bring in a player like Barton, who Burnley were keen to have play for them in the cash-rich Premier League in England next season? Was releasing Nicky Clark, Nicky Law and David Templeton enough to free up the cash needed to meet the 33-year-old’s wage demands?

Last year's financial results, though, came after a widespread boycott of season tickets by disgruntled supporters. Since the new regime seized control last year, fans have returned to Ibrox in large numbers.

Robertson, who stressed the signings of Rossiter and Barton would help to generate income, reiterated that the financial predicament of the Govan club is, despite the continuing impasse with retail partners Sports Direct, much healthier.

“In terms of a loss, actually cash wise we are just about breaking even or maybe just a wee bit below that,” he said.

“I’d say there is investment needed to be made in the club. You have to remember where the club was, so it’s not making a loss for the sake of making a loss and being flippant and frivolous with the money.

“That money is going to be invested. You have to look at the money that’s going into the players we sign are going into players who have a value on the balance sheet. In due course, some of them will be sold and will create a value.

“If you look at this football club it’s an income stream this club has not had for a number of years has been transfer fees. That’s something we have to start generating, transfer fees, to make sure we can compete at the top of the league.”

Robertson dismissed suggestions the appointment of Brendan Rodgers, the former Swansea City and Liverpool manager, at Celtic would cause Rangers to rethink their planned recruitment drive this summer.

“Celtic have appointed a big name, which is great,” he said. “We’ve got a plan and we’re still on the path with our plan, so that doesn’t change anything here. I saw one comment the other day that it’s a bit more showbiz and for Scottish football I think that’s a positive.”

Frank McParland, the head of recruitment at Rangers who was instrumental in bringing both Barton and Rossiter to Glasgow, is reported to be a target for Rafael Benitez at Newcastle United. The two men worked together at Liverpool.

Warburton has spoken in the past of the importance of McParland to his plans and Robertson stated every effort would be taken to retain his services along with those of the manager and his assistant Davie Weir.

“Frank is a key part of the team,” he said. “We are constantly looking at the situation to make sure all the employees are happy and feel as if they are well rewarded. We are constantly assessing what needs to be done.

“Frank has only been in a few months, but he is not just a key part of the team for what he does job wise but he is a character about the place and helps with the whole atmosphere about the place.”