Rangers end speculation and accumulate

RANGERS yesterday began to fulfil their pledge to reinvest the proceeds of Carlos Cuellar's £7.8 million sale to Aston Villa when they completed the £3 million signing of Pedro Mendes from Portsmouth and agreed a £2.5 million fee for the United States international midfielder Maurice Edu.

The Ibrox club, whose supporters have been in mutinous mood since their shock elimination from the Champions League by Kaunas and the subsequent loss of Spanish central defender Cuellar, also confirmed they have offered Palermo £4million for Australian midfielder Mark Bresciano and remain interested in bringing Steven Davis back to the club on a permanent deal from Fulham.

Walter Smith, the Rangers manager, admitted yesterday that the numbing defeat to Kaunas put him back to square one in his efforts to restore the club to pre-eminence in the Scottish game and was instrumental in losing out to Celtic in the race to sign Dutch defender Glenn Loovens from Cardiff City.

The arrival of Mendes, who may make his debut against Hearts at Ibrox today, signals the start of Smith's planned recovery process in a season where only the winning of a first SPL title in four years will see it regarded as a success.

Mendes, the 29-year-old Portuguese international who was a Champions League winner with Porto in 2004, signed a three-year contract at Murray Park yesterday and will be expected to fill the creative void left in the Rangers midfield by injured captain Barry Ferguson.

"Pedro is a good all-round midfield player," said Smith. "He has a good level of technical ability, he can play any pass, has a decent level of aggression and can do his bit defensively. I think he will be a really good acquisition. We have to improve on our overall possession of the ball and hopefully he will help us do that."

Mendes, whose spectacular long range shooting has lit up many a Match of the Day programme since he moved to England four years ago, has sacrificed a European campaign with Portsmouth this season to make what he is confident is a positive career move.

"Rangers is such a big club, it is always going to attract you," he said. "When I first heard the rumours they were interested two weeks ago, I was quite excited and Googled the club online to find out everything I could about them.

"But then nothing happened until I got the 'phone call on Thursday to say they wanted me. It's been crazy since then, a real rush to get here, but I'm really happy to join a club like this. The training facilities and the stadium are both fantastic. It is disappointing that the club are not in Europe anymore, but that's the motivation to win the championship and make sure we are in the Champions League next season. To play for a club like Rangers, you need to be able to handle pressure and I think I can do that.

"I'm 29 now, at a good stage of my career to enjoy my football and perform well at a big club like this. I see this as a move forward for me and it wasn't difficult to accept this contract."

Further reinforcements are expected to arrive in the shape of 22-year-old Edu who has just played for the USA in the Olympic Games football tournament. Currently with Toronto, managed by former Rangers striker Mo Johnston who recommended him to Smith, Edu was the MLS Rookie of the Year in 2007 when he also made his breakthrough into the senior US international side.

The powerful 6ft tall Edu, who can also play in central defence, is in the US squad for their World Cup qualifier against Guatemala next Wednesday but Rangers were last night trying to arrange for him to visit Glasgow this weekend to complete the transfer after agreeing the fee with the MLS.

"We are in the final stages of tying everything up with him," said Smith. "We also need to get a work permit but I would hope we will get him okay. I asked Mo Johnston if there were any players in the MLS who could maybe do a job for us and he recommended two or three. We watched Edu last season and liked what we saw."

The progress of Rangers' bid for 28-year-old Bresciano is less certain. So far, the Ibrox club have not received a formal response from Palermo to their offer for the powerful midfielder who played for Australia at the last World Cup finals.

"They were on a pre-season tour in Germany last week and there have been problems getting in touch with them," revealed Smith. "We made a bid in the early part of the week but haven't heard anything yet. I don't know what that indicates, other than there is a problem in communication."

Smith, who added that Rangers are "continuing to look" at reaching an agreement with Fulham for the transfer of Northern Ireland international midfielder Davis, also confirmed that injury-plagued Scotland defender Andy Webster has been made available on loan with Motherwell interested in taking him to Fir Park until January.

"Andy needs regular football," said the Rangers manager, "and there is no guarantee of that here for him at the moment."

Smith remained philosophical about missing out on Loovens who had been tracked all summer by the Ibrox club before they were gazumped by Celtic.

"It happens," said Smith. "It has happened with other players we wanted who have gone to other clubs, we just have to get on with it. Champions League football had an effect on Loovens' decision and that is his choice. For me, the Kaunas result undid 18 months of work. It was a terrible result and we have to live with the level of criticism it led to."

Rangers have David Weir available again after suspension but are still without Nacho Novo, completing a two-match ban, for the visit of Hearts today.

Aaron Niguez Esclapez, the 19-year-old Spanish midfielder who has joined Rangers on a two-year loan from Valencia, will not feature today as he is still short of full match fitness.