All change as Caixinha is quick out of the blocks

PEDRO Caixinha has tended not to prevaricate over anything since arriving as Rangers manager so it should come as no surprise to see him attack the transfer market with similar levels of gusto. It is the approach of a man either impatient to get on with things or one aware that the size of the challenge means it may take some time to get all the necessary pieces in place. A few weeks into his summer rebuilding mission and a picture is beginning to crystallise. With no reliable scouting network to speak of and Caixinha evidently not wishing to rely too heavily, too soon on the local knowledge of coach Jonatan Johnasson, he has stuck by and large with plumping for familiar faces from his past. And they are landing in their droves. Four of those signed so far – or expected to sign – share Caixinha’s Portuguese nationality, with Bruno Alves arriving from Cagliari in Italy, Fabio Cardoso from Vitoria Setubal, and Dalcio and Daniel Candeias from Benfica. A further two – Carlos Pena and Eduardo Herrera – have landed from Mexico where Caixinha spent two years in charge of Santa Laguna, while the Hispanic influence will grow further if a deal for Colombian striker Alfredo Morelos can be concluded from HJK Helsinki in Finland – perhaps a sign of Johansson’s input. Despite a clamour for Rangers to do more of their shopping in Scotland, Ryan Jack remains the only local signing after completing his move from Aberdeen. Should all eight of those deals get over the line, it will mean Caixinha assembling the guts of an entirely new team in the space of barely a fortnight. There is plenty to admire in a manager being decisive in pinpointing his signing targets and then getting his business done early in the window. Few of the deals, once they have entered the public domain, have dragged on unduly as has often been the case in the past. Many of the foreign names will be unfamiliar to most, although their pedigree and backgrounds hint at a higher calibre of signing than many accrued by former manager Mark Warburton. Alves is 35 now but vastly experienced at both club and international level. He ought to bring stability, even if only for the short-term, to a defence that struggled for consistency last season.

Cardoso, his likely defensive partner, is rawer and less proven at 23 but has time spent at Benfica on his CV, as do Dalcio and Candeias. Such an illustrious background never guarantees success, of course, but it should at least ensure new players are aware of the expectations that will meet them at a club like Rangers.

Those who follow Mexican football believe Pena and Herrera are talented players who have come to Glasgow looking to kickstart careers that have lost their way in recent times, while Morelos scored 30 goals in Finland last year. Jack’s arrival both strengthens Rangers and weakens their biggest rival for second place next season.

Of course, making wholesale changes always carries a risk. Such

Caixinha has not had the easiest start and still has to convince he is the right man. But it has never been dull

a strategy did not work for Hearts in January and may not come together immediately for Rangers either. It’s not difficult to picture two separate camps forming inside the Auchenhowie dressing room; those just signed congregating on one side, the rest on the other. Penny for the thoughts of Martyn Waghorn, Danny Wilson, Andy Halliday and others from last year’s squad as they see a legion of players filter in to effectively push them further from the starting line-up.

The other question, then, is just how Rangers are affording all of this, especially seeing there has been no need for players to be shipped out before new faces could come in. Some of the transfer fees mentioned have been eye-catching, too – perhaps a sign that Dave King and his directors are finally loosening the purse strings to finance Caixinha’s proposed revolution.

The Portuguese has not had the easiest start to his managerial tenure and still has to convince he is the right man for the job. But it has never been dull. His transfer splurge is just the latest sign of that.