MEXICAN RAVE

Tie-up with Liga MX side Chivas is great news for Gers says Ped

PEDRO CAIXINHA is focused on a win in Govan tomorrow but reckons a tie-up with Chivas could be of huge long term benefit to Rangers.

The Light Blues boss has urged his players to deliver their first Premiership win of the season at Ibrox against struggling Dundee after a defeat to Hibs and draw against Hearts.

But as the Portuguese boss looked at the bigger picture of helping Rangers grow he spoke passionately about a possible deal with a club 5000 miles away.

Caixinha this week took on the role of matchmaker when he arranged a meeting with Gers chiefs and Mexican side Deportivo Guadalajara – known as Chivas – supremo Jose Luis Higuera.

The 46-year-old used his contacts from his spell in charge of Santos Laguna and believes an official link could happen.

Caixinha said: “The CEO of Chivas, Jose Luis Higuera, visited us. Carlos Pena came from there.

“Chivas and the majority of Mexican clubs are trying to expand. Chivas is the biggest club in Mexico and the fanbase is something like 40 million.

“They’re a huge club in Mexico and they spread it to the USA and are trying to buy some clubs in South America but they want to extend the connections in Europe.

“They might be looking for us to do it and it will be a very good chance for a win-win relationship.

“It would bring a lot of benefits to us – knowledge, young players moving from one side to the other and maybe first-team players and also exchange trips for coaches.

“There’s so many opportunities. They’re strong in the marketing area. We can learn from each other.

“They have a fantastic annual international youth tournament and the presence of Rangers – playing against the best teams in the world – could be important.

“It’s still only one visit and one discussion and I’m not the one who will make the decision. The board will do that but I put the two parties in contact.

“Chivas has one big company at its back, Onmilife. There’s a huge volume of money there.

“The stadium is amazing, a 50,000 seater. They also want to build a new training facility with 12 pitches so it’s going to be a massive, state-of-the-art facility.

“They’re visiting various facilities in Europe and around the world because they want to build with the best there is in the market.

“Their chief executive knows and respects the story of Rangers and now we have direct contact.”

Caixinha also confirmed Record Sport Online’s exclusive of a potential friendly against Benfica in Canada next month.

He added: “It’s very close to being done but it’s not done yet.

“But yes, it is a possibility for us to play them in the Eusebio Cup.”

While he spoke of relationships abroad, Caixinha knows the real concern is what happens at Ibrox.

He believes the visit of the Dee is the first of three cup finals before he can even think about the first Old Firm game.

He said: “I can’t think about the Celtic game. If I do I’ll disrespect the three games I have before – and they are three finals. We need to win. Our fans deserve it.”

●Rangers will welcome over 200 armed forces personnel to honour servicemen and women of the Royal Navy, Army and RAF.