It was in the Club’s UEFA Cup clash with Paris Saint Germain last season that Mikel Arteta first wooed the Ibrox crowd, despite being on the opposing team.

The young Spaniard was outstanding in the midfield alongside Hugo Leal and at the tender age of 20 he already looked a truly world class player.

And thankfully after coming to the club Alex McLeish made one of his first priorities the task of securing Arteta’s talents.

He is without doubt one of the best young players in European football and having grown up in the Barcelona ranks watching the sensational Pep Guardiola, Arteta is already being touted as his successor for the national team.

He is a regular for Spain at under-21 level and has been an inspiration at every level since making his debut for the national side as a school-boy.

In 1999 he was part of the under-16 squad that won the European Championship and to date that remains his most successful international campaign.

After never managing to quite break into the Barcelona first team Arteta moved to PSG on loan. This is where he first came across Rangers and the youngster admitted that he enjoyed playing at Ibrox so much that it actually was one of the reasons he decided to come to the SPL rather than stay in France.

Since coming to Scotland Mikel has firmly stamped his authority on the Rangers midfield and his partnership with Barry Ferguson is proving to be invaluable.