Alex McLeish, the former Rangers manager, believes that the signing of Joey Barton for Rangers would be a transfer coup akin to the revolutionary days of the Graeme Souness era when English internationals were enticed north of the border to ply their trade.
Barton does not carry the same prestige as the likes of Terry Butcher, Ray Wilkins and Chris Woods, but he would provide an injection of glamour and intrigue to the Ladbrokes Scottish Premier League next season, according to McLeish.
The 33-year-old is believed to be on the cusp of agreeing a two-deal with Rangers and McLeish – who was thwarted in his attempts to sign the player when he was manager of Aston Villa - expects that the box-office capture of the midfielder lays down a marker for next season’s title challenge.
Read more: Tavernier backs Warburton to get summer signings right as Rangers close in on Barton
"It's a really ambitious signing,” he said. “When Rangers went through their revolution in the Graeme Souness era, he started bringing in some top English players in and this jogs your memory back to then.
"I felt we needed someone like him at Villa, but Randy Lerner wasn't keen on the idea on bringing him in. He didn't think it would be a good image for the club. But everyone deserves a second chance I felt. But it didn't happen. He was always a tough opponent when we were playing teams like Newcastle and I admire what he's done in the game. I know him quite well, he's a good lad.
“It would bring a bit of showbiz to Rangers and of course that's not what they are aiming to achieve with this signing, it's to be successful, but he would bring that kind of glamour. And let's fact it, that's been missing from the club for the last four years."
Barton has had a colourful career at Manchester City, Newcastle, QPR and Marseille, with incidents on and off the field landing him in trouble. The player was sentenced to a six-month jail term after he was convicted of assault and affray in 2008. His reputation suffered was compounded when he was given a 12-game ban in 2012 as well as a £75,000 fine by the English FA after being found guilty of two counts of violent conduct when captain of QPR who were relegated after a last day 3-2 defeat to Manchester City.
The link to Rangers comes through Frank McParland, Rangers’ head of recruitment, who played an integral part in Barton signing for Burnley. And while the off-field baggage will always be a question mark over Barton, McLeish believes that the player has not only matured in recent years but has the ability to make a name for himself with Rangers.
"He's maturing absolutely,” he said. “He's aggressive, but it's controlled and I think he would bring a lot of leadership if they were to sign him. I met Joey last year, we did some work in the Middle East. He said at the time he still felt he was a Premier League player and he was pretty disappointed with the confidence and belief he's got in himself that no Premier League clubs came for him when he went to Burnley. But he did say that he thought they had a pretty good chance of getting up this year and they did."
The capture of Barton – who has previously made his affection for Celtic known – will raise the bar for the Parkhead club in their recruitment process this summer. The immediate priority for Celtic at the minute is to appoint a successor to Ronny Deila, with Republic of Ireland number two Roy Keane the current front runner for the role. But the volatile former Manchester United captain in the Celtic dug-out with the similarly hot-headed Barton at the other side of the city is a tantalising hypothetical.
"It would just ignite everything again,” said McLeish, who delivered a Treble as part of the seven trophies he oversaw in his tenure at Rangers. “It would be putting Rangers and Celtic really on the map again because Scottish football has missed Rangers badly and I think everyone is relishing seeing them back in again.
“Of course it’s a statement of intent. Rangers are not coming back to consolidate. They are coming back to try to beat Celtic and win the league. That’s where you are judged.
“People feel Celtic are ahead of Rangers in terms of quality, but I don’t think there’s a big difference at all. I before the cup game the gap was pretty close and if Rangers are bringing in the likes of Joey, then Celtic are going to have to react. That’s going to make it more exciting for everybody.
“It’s going to be great. “It was looking good for a while with the prospect of Aberdeen, Hearts and Hibs all in there, along with the likes of St Johnstone and big Yogi’s Inverness, who have all been getting results over the last few years. It will make for an exciting league.”
Alex McLeish was speaking at a William Hill media event. William Hill is the proud sponsor of the Scottish Cup.
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