Rangers confirm Russell Martin signing from Norwich - will he be a starter at Ibrox?

Rangers have confirmed the loan signing of Russell Martin from Norwich City.

The Scotland centre-back will initially move on loan, but with his contract expiring at the end of the season, there’s an opportunity for him to make the deal permanent for free if both parties feel so inclined.

Martin obviously brings a lot of experience to Rangers’ backline, which is usually desperately lacking in it when Bruno Alves doesn’t play. What this means for Alves at Rangers isn’t yet clear, although reports state that he’s keen to stay and fight for his place at Ibrox.

Rangers will have some serious competition at centre-back now, and there are several questions for Graeme Murty to consider. With the squad now being overstocked with central midfielders - especially if Greg Docherty arrives - then Ross McCrorie could well be moved into the back four too, particularly with the club lacking pace at centre-back.

Overall though, we’d expect Martin to be perhaps the most likely starter of the two centre halves between now and the end of the season, if we’ve got the player we think we have. Norwich fans certainly seem convinced that we’ve made a good move. Hopefully it turns out to be the case.