BRUNO ALVES became the first signing of the summer for Rangers when he completed his move to Ibrox on a two-year deal this week.

And the supporters are rightly delighted to see a player of his calibre join Pedro Caixinha’s side. On and off the park, he could have a big part to play for Rangers.

His CV is certainly impressive and you don’t get called up for Portugal at the age of 35 if you are not a good player. He is in the squad once again for their World Cup qualifiers and the Confederations Cup over the next couple of weeks.

He is a physical and committed player and he is someone that just wants to go and win the ball, clear his lines and keep clean sheets.

He is not a long-term solution but he has signed for a couple of years and Pedro will hope that he can play an influential role this season.

The manager knows him better than anybody and knows what he can bring to the team. He is a fit lad and a born winner. That is what Rangers need.

I would have no qualms if Pedro said ‘Bruno, you are my captain’.

He will be at the heart of that defence, he can talk to everyone around him and he can lead by example. That is maybe what Rangers have been lacking.

That is no disrespect to Lee Wallace. He has been a good captain of the club and his performances are the inspiration for those around him.

But if you are looking for somebody that is going to galvanise people, being at centre-half certainly helps. For me, Bruno would be the ideal captain.

It would be a big call to take the armband from Lee because he has stood by the club for the last few years and he was a big figure for Rangers as we made our way from the Third Division back to the Premiership.

Pedro will know what happened to Rangers during that time but that is in the past. He has to look forward now.

Lee missed a few games towards the end of the season and Pedro hasn’t really had a chance to see what he brings to the team from left-back.

That isn’t the case with Alves. He knows his quality on the park and off the park and knows that he is a leader.

If he wants to change it, he will change it. He will have words with Lee and he could maybe make him vice-captain.

I don’t know if that is something that Pedro will look at but I would give the armband to Alves. It would be another confidence boost for him coming into the side.

Getting Alves in as the first signing of the summer is a good bit of business for Rangers but he won’t be the last centre-half that comes into the club.

I would like to see someone, maybe around the 24, 25 mark, that can play beside him and learn from him and form a really solid partnership there.

It doesn’t look like Danny Wilson will be back in time for the first couple of Europa League games so there will have to be players coming in to add extra quality to that area of the side.

I have said before how important it is to have the spine of your side in place and with Alves and Ryan Jack on board Pedro is going about things the right way.

There will be a striker coming in as well and once you have got those key positions sorted you can then look to build around them and really strengthen the side and the squad.

Rangers had to make major changes this summer and Pedro has got that process off to a good start in the last couple of days.

The players that are there were good enough to win the Championship and they played some good stuff in their first season at Ibrox.

I thought they would step up when they got into the Premiership but the majority of them haven’t and the ones that came in last summer haven’t had the desired impact either.

Maybe the Premiership, at a club like Rangers, isn’t suitable for them and they will have to go back down south to continue their careers.

Some deals, like the one for Jack, can be done for no transfer fee but others will cost you money and the board have backed Pedro in the transfer market.

The manager had a right good look at the squad in the last couple of months of the season and has identified what had to be done to improve the team.

The defence was certainly one of the most important areas and he will be delighted that he has been able to get a player of Alves’ quality on board this early in the summer.

Rangers are a club that has to win things and to do that Pedro knew he had to bring better players in. So far, he is getting his wish.

There have been a number of players linked with a move recently but until the paperwork is signed and the players have the scarf round their neck, Rangers won’t take anything for granted.

The fans are excited at the players that have come in and some of the names that could arrive at Ibrox over the next few weeks. Now Rangers have to get the deals done.