Rangers have signed one of European football's most coveted young talents in Spain's under-20 captain, Aaron Niguez Escoplez.
Rangers have signed one of European football's most coveted young talents in Spain's under-20 captain, Aaron Niguez Escoplez.
After a day of fevered speculation that included an attempt to sign James McFadden from Birmingham, the imminent arrival of Mark Bresciano, the Palermo midfielder, and the possible sale of Kris Boyd to Newcastle United, Rangers instead secured the Valencia winger on a two-year loan deal with a view to a permanent transfer.
The 19-year-old, who plays under his forename, has been tracked by Arsenal, Chelsea and Real Madrid since making his debut for Valencia in the Champions League against AS Roma two years ago. He was sent out on loan to the Segunda Liga side, Xerez CD, at the start of last season and moved in the January window to Iraklis, of Greece.
Spanish rules permit clubs to list only 24 players for their first team squads, and despite the option to remain in Greece, Rangers were alerted to his availability through his agent, who also represents Ibrox attacker Nacho Novo.
Aaron came to prominence in the European under-17 Championships but excelled at under-19 level, where he helped Spain defeat Greece in the final. He scored twice in the semi-final victory against France, a performance that alerted Chelsea's then director of football, Frank Arnesen.
Even Rafael Benitez, a former Valencia coach, was rejected when he tried to sign the prodigy. "Chelsea and Liverpool are enormous clubs and it's great that they have an interest in me but I'm young and happy to carry on building my career with Valencia," he said at the time.
The move comes after Celtic signed Barcelona's promising midfield player, Marc Crosas, but Aaron is not the big name arrival expected as speculation grew to fever pitch.
McFadden is not a realistic option despite suggestions Rangers would be prepared to break their wage structure. Walter Smith will continue his pursuit of a centre back and a central midfielder but his attempts so far have proved frustrating.
Glenn Loovens remains on the radar but Rangers are not prepared to pay £3m for the Dutchman who is out of contract in the summer.
The club are keen to sign Bresciano, the Australian midfielder, from Palermo but the Serie A club are reluctant to sell despite confirmed interest from Newcastle United and Manchester City.
Craig Moore, the former Rangers captain, has given the 28-year-old midfielder a glowing recommendation of life in Glasgow but the Barclays Premier League is his preferred option. Martin Bain, the Rangers chief executive, will attempt to establish whether Palermo will listen to offers but the combined package of a possible £4m transfer plus Serie A wages may prove prohibitive even in spite of the £8m transfer of Carlos Cuellar.
To confuse matters, an Italian agent, Sergio Berti, yesterday claimed a move to Rangers was "impossible" but he is not understood to be representing Bresciano.
Rangers have also given a trial to former Bohemians midfielder Chris Turner but a deal is highly unlikely. The Northern Ireland under-21 internationalist has been invited to Murray Park after a hamstring injury scuppered a potential move to Morecambe but he has not trained with the first team.
