Walter Smith secured the services of Charlie Adam on a five-year contract but was last night playing a waiting game on the three players that he believes can turn Rangers into championship challengers.
Despite stepping up his transfer activity yesterday, the Ibrox manager had to satisfy himself with agreeing a new deal with Adam, who has been rewarded for his impressive performances last season.
Moves for the Wigan Athletic midfielder, Lee McCulloch, the Kilmarnock striker, Steven Naismith, and Bordeaux utility man, Julien Faubert, top Smith's list of priorities but the latter two transfers promise to be protracted affairs.
McCulloch's transfer appears to be the most straightforward, but Rangers' valuations of Naismith and Faubert are so far away from what Kilmarnock and Bordeaux want for their players that negotiations have reached a stalemate.
DaMarcus Beasley, Graeme Smith, Kirk Broadfoot, Jean-Claude Darcheville and Alan Gow have all arrived at Ibrox since the end of last season but Smith admits that he wanted to have more new players on board by the time Rangers returned to pre-season training on Monday of this week.
"From a managerial point of view we have not had a lot of time to bring in that many players, we still need more,"
he said. "But we have to be patient, although we know there is not much time until the European qualifiers."
The deal for Adam, 21, safeguards his Ibrox future until 2012 and the improved terms reflect his growing influence on the team. Twelve months ago he was returning from a loan spell at St Mirren unsure whether he would be handed a chance in Paul Le Guen's new-look team, now he is a full internationalist.
"I'm delighted," said the midfielder, who made his Scotland debut against the Faroe Islands earlier this month. "To be rewarded with a five-year contract is something I had never really thought about, but I'll keep working hard and, hopefully, next season we can produce some trophies.
"With the people in charge and the players coming in and the players we've signed, hopefully, everything's looking good."
The Champions League qualifying draw this afternoon will bring into sharp focus how close Rangers are to the start of another campaign and Smith has made no apology for bringing his players back to Murray Park before the end of June.
"Due to the importance of our matches at the start of the season, it was necessary for everyone to come back now."
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