Arfield’s former gaffer Clark says the all-action midfielder would be a huge coup for Ibrox side after proving his quality in England’s top flight
LEE CLARK insists Rangers would be landing a multi-million-pound midfielder for nothing if they can pull off the pre-contract signing of Scott Arfield.
The Burnley man has emerged as a top target for the Light Blues as they set about strengthening their squad early for next season’s title tilt.
Rangers might not know who will be in the dugout next term but director of football Mark Allen has already identified transfer targets.
Arfield ticks the boxes having played at the top level in England and was a key part in the first half of a stunning season for Burnley that sees them challenging for a Euro place.
The 29-year-old moved to Turf Moor when boss Sean Dyche signed him five years ago and he has played almost 200 games for the Clarets.
But it was former Kilmarnock gaffer Clark who first took Arfield south of the border when he was in charge of Huddersfield.
Arfield was integral in helping the Terriers win promotion to the Championship in 2012, albeit during a season when Clark had been sacked and replaced by Simon Grayson.
But the Geordie still worked with the midfielder for almost two years previously in Yorkshire.
And he reckons he would be a major signing for Rangers.
Ex-Rugby Park manager Clark said: “If Rangers can pull it off then Scott would be an outstanding signing because he’s a proven English Premier League player.
“If he was under contract and you had to buy him, when you look at the money players are going for now who are playing at that level, you’d be talking multi millions. “So to get him on a pre-contract would be an amazing piece of business. He is class and has been terrific for Burnley. “He gets goals from the middle of the pitch and he would be an absolutely outstanding signing for Rangers if they can get him. When I worked with Scott I always thought he had the potential to move to the Premier League because of his attitude alone.
“I don’t think Dyche will want to lose him but he’s obviously out of contract. He is more confident since he moved to England and he has improved year on year.
“Scott has been a big part of Burnley’s success this season, a very important player. It would be a real coup for Rangers to get him.
“I’ve kept in touch with him and when we played Falkirk in the play-off for Kilmarnock to stay in the Premiership he was at the game and we had a good chat afterwards.
“He’s a great lad and I don’t think joining a club the size of Rangers would faze him. He’d relish the opportunity to play for such a big club and it won’t be a problem for him.
“Scott was an excellent signing for me at Huddersfield. He’s very fit, a box-to-box midfielder who can play in a central role or on the
right-hand side.
“I went to Scotland quite a few times to watch him playing for Falkirk.
“It was between him and Craig Bryson who was at Kilmarnock at the time. “I only had the money to get one of them and I plumped for Scotty instead of Craig. That’s nothing against Craig. They were similar players but my feeling was Scott would have been great for us. My scouts had tipped me off about him and when I watched him I liked his athleticism and mobility.
“He’s super fit and on top of that, once I got to know and work with him I discovered he’s a terrific professional.
“Scott’s also a tremendous character. He’s very popular with his team-mates and was part of the group that got Huddersfield promoted to the Championship.”
It was John Hughes who first spotted Arfield’s potential when he watched him as a 15-year-old at Falkirk and immediately got him tied down on a professional contract.
He handed him his first-team debut in a 4-0 win away to Gretna in August 2007 and Yogi said: “He was always going to make the grade.
“We used to tell him what had to be done to become a professional footballer and he did it. We told the players to do their own stuff at night to get fitter than your rival.
“And I’d get text messages and phone calls from guys sitting in traffic saying Scott was running past them on a road run.
“We’d put him up against Russell Latapy in training and he stuck to the task all the way.
“He learned a lot from Russell in the way he played. I first watched him as a 15-year-old and I said right away we had to get him signed on a professional deal. And it was one of the best signings I ever made.
“He never lets you down. You just kept flinging him the bone and he kept responding. And before you knew it he was training with the first team at 17 because we couldn’t hold him back any longer.”
To get him signed on a pre-contract would be an amazing bit of business LEE CLARK