MARK WARBURTON is confident Rangers can help Arsenal wonderkid Gedion Zelalem on the road to stardom as he closes in on a switch to Ibrox.

The midfielder travelled to Glasgow earlier this week to hold talks with the Light Blues over a potential move and is now on the brink of clinching a Gers deal.

Rangers have already taken Spurs starlets Dominic Ball and Nathan Oduwa on loan for their Championship title bid and Warburton reckons Gunners kid Zelalem will be another quality addition to his squad.

He said: “We’re getting very close and hopefully there will be news in the next 24 hours, but he won’t feature on Sunday because it’s important any players who come into the squad gets a chance to know them first.

“He’s an extremely talented ball player who sees a pass, is very creative and one of the young gems at Arsenal.

“It takes time to get these things done. He’s a young player and it’s important to make sure his development is covered and will continue appropriately up here.

“If this deal is completed it’s great for the club but we’ve got to show these clubs we can look after their assets.

“They are trusting us with their asset and we’ve got to make sure we can create the right environment for them because if we are weak in areas, medically, nutritionally or food-wise - or the hotels aren’t good enough - they won’t send us their players.

“It poses questions of us as a football department and if we can answer them we’ll be okay, we’ll be in good shape.”

The capture of Zelalem would be another piece of the Gers jigsaw completed for Warburton as he overhauls his Ibrox squad and sets his sights on the Championship title.

And the former Brentford boss has no qualms about helping another club by giving their best young talents first team experience.

He said: “I don’t see how that’s a negative. If we are developing him he is getting better playing for us.

“We are benefitting from all the positive aspects of him performing for us at this level. We had the boy (Alex) Pritchard on loan last season and he played 44-46 games for us and I think he will be in the Spurs first team this season.

“He developed because of the loan, we benefited from his quality, and Spurs were happy that their asset had increased in value. So the right loan at the right time works really well.

“It’s also a competitive environment. There’s no comparison in my mind between playing in front of 50,000 fans and in an Under-21s game.

“You see really technically proficient Under-21 games but hardly any tackles are made. It’s got to be realistic and they will get closer to the first team experience by playing here.”