Rangers have made a major statement of intent with the signings of Jermain Defoe and Steven Davis.
It is clear Rangers manager Steven Gerrard believes his side has a great chance of winning the Premiership title come May and he has convinced chairman Dave King to back him in the January window.
Davis is a player who Scottish football fans know well from his previous spell at Ibrox but Defoe’s arrival is great piece of business.
Defoe is 36 but remains in peak physical condition and I’ve no doubt at all he will score a lot of goals in his time. How long that will turn out to be, however, is open to debate.
He has joined on an 18-month deal but I don’t somehow see him being here for the full duration of that deal. Swapping the Premier League in England for Scottish football can be a culture shock for some and it will be interesting to see how the Englishman fares under the microscope in Scotland.
When he is here, however, he will be a key man, that’s for sure.
Rangers need to sharpen up in front of goal and Defoe will certainly provide an added threat in the final third for Gerrard’s side.
But his arrival also tells me the Light Blues boss has yet to be convinced about Alfredo Morelos and Gerrard’s decision to recall Ryan Hardie from his loan at Livingston reinforces that in my view.
The Colombian is a scorer – of that there can be no doubt – but his temperament is suspect.
He seems to go through these silly spells of petulance and it ends up costing his team dear too often. Managers need players they can rely on in pressure situations and I’m not sure Morelos has the character for that.
He was involved in three incidents in the win against Celtic before the break and can count himself fortunate not to have fallen foul of the referee for any of them.
Three red cards and 13 yellows in 35 games says it all.
Celtic have responded with the loan signing of Oliver Burke, which is an intriguing one.
Burke burst onto the scene after coming through the Nottingham Forest youth set-up and a £13 million move to RB Leipzig in 2016 set a new record for a transfer involving a Scottish player.
A lot of pressure comes from carrying high price-tags around, and despite featuring mainly as a substitute in Germany he broke his own transfer record when he returned to England with West Brom in 2017 for £15m.
His appearances have been sporadic for the Midlands club which is why he comes to Scotland needing to prove himself. But going by his record of improving players, if anyone can get him going it is Hoops boss Brendan Rodgers.
