YESTERDAY was a decent day for Rangers. Not only were they able to get their sixth signing of the summer over the line, they were also dealt a favourable hand upon their return to the European arena after a six-year absence.

Nine days out from their first competitive game of the season, this was the sort of good fortune Pedro Caixinha must hope will stay with him for the remainder of the campaign.

Alfredo Morelos’ arrival from HJK Helsinki had been in the pipeline for more than a week and the Colombian’s work permit has now been finally processed, allowing the 20 year-old to join up with the rest of the squad after signing a three-year deal.

Read more: Alfredo Morelos hoping Rangers form can catapult him into Colombia side

It was a timely development, Rangers finalising the transfer ahead of last night’s UEFA deadline for registering players for the first qualifying round of the Europa League.

Caixinha’s reshuffle continues apace, with Morelos likely to command much of the spotlight as the first centre forward to sign for the Ibrox club this summer. With Joe Garner having moved on after a solitary, largely fruitless season, there will be an expectation on the man being asked to replace him to deliver where Garner fell someway short.

Rangers’ top two scorers last season were Martyn Waghorn (16, only seven of which came in the league) and Kenny Miller (14), although both men spent large chunks of the campaign either operating in the wider areas of the field or coming off the bench.

Doubts remain over Waghorn’s future at Ibrox – he has been repeatedly linked with moves back down south – while even Miller, the Benjamin Button of Scottish football, cannot be expected to keep getting Rangers out of a jam with vital goals as he approaches his 38th birthday. The other option for the centre forward role is Joe Dodoo, although, like Garner, his first season in Scottish football was somewhat underwhelming with a return of just five goals.

Read more: Alfredo Morelos hoping Rangers form can catapult him into Colombia side

Morelos’ recent numbers are somewhat more impressive – 30 goals last year, 17 in HJK’s summer season so far – although should come attached with the caveat that Finnish football is currently listed 13 places below Scotland in the UEFA rankings. His propensity to shoot on goal at every opportunity, however, should stand him in good stead even against better opposition.

Rangers fans will get the first proper glimpse of Morelos, and the rest of Caixinha’s cavalcade of summer signings, at Ibrox next week following the completion of the draw for the first and second qualifying rounds of the Europa League.

Seeded in the opening round, Rangers were always going to be handed a relatively straightforward opening test but in Progres Niederkorn they have landed one of the weakest of the unseeded sides, according to their co-efficient points. Logistically, it ought to be relatively straightforward, too. With teams from Armenia, Georgia, Albania and the Faroes also in the pot, the short trip to Luxembourg for the return leg would appear to be far from the worst possible outcome.

Read more: Alfredo Morelos hoping Rangers form can catapult him into Colombia side

There will likely have been a significant sigh of relief when the second round was drawn, too. Rangers were not seeded at that stage and could have been paired with the likes of Galatasaray, Maccabi Tel-Aviv or Dinamo Minsk making AEL Limassol, assuming they can ease past St Joseph’s of Gibraltar in the first round, a more appealing selection. Rangers will need to deal with a scorching Cypriot sun in mid-July but will fancy their chances of making it through to the third qualifying round.

“We have started to collect our information,” Caixinha told Rangers TV afterwards. “We know they are going to have a couple of matches before we play against them, so we want to be present. We want to analyse them and we want to do our homework.

“Of course, thinking about our team but also knowing about the opponent we are going to face. The return of Rangers to Europe is important for the club and we are going to do everything to be in the group stage. Of course, this is the first step and the first level, and we need to pass through it.

“It will be our first [away] match and for the recovery process of the team it is good not to have a long trip. We are just waiting to hear when the second leg will be, so I am waiting to know to organise the plan and everything is going according to our first expectations of the process regarding to the plan.”

Rangers last played in Europe in 2011 and managing director Stewart Robertson was pleased to be back on that stage again. “The European arena is one in which Rangers should always be involved and it is a real pleasure to see our club back on that platform,” he said.