THEY say you should never meet your heroes, but for Scott Arfield, his idol will soon be his boss. Professional footballers don’t tend to be easily impressed by reputations or celebrity, but when Arfield came up against Steven Gerrard, for the first time in his career he was starstruck. So much so, that he has kept a permanent reminder of the occasion on his wall.

The photo was taken on Boxing Day of 2014, and despite Liverpool defeating Arfield’s Burnley side by a Raheem Sterling goal to nil, the former Falkirk midfielder thought all his Christmases had come at once. The framed memento will now follow him to Glasgow, where he hopes to create more memories alongside Gerrard for his scrapbook by bringing some much longed-for silverware back to Rangers.

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“It was a Turf Moor,” Arfield recalled. “There was a picture of it up in the house. I’ve actually just taken it down because I knew that I was moving. He was tackling me, and I was jumping out of the way. I was buzzing.”

Arfield was buzzing once more yesterday as he basked in the realisation that he would now be reporting to training every day to learn from one of the best midfielders of the past 20 years in world football.

“It is just an absolute dream,” he said. “If you talk to any midfielder, everyone wants to be like that. He was my hero, his driving from midfield.

“I was fortunate enough to play against him and getting that different aspect of off-the-field advice now, as well as the on-the-field experience, can only enhance you as a player and a person.

“I hope to soak up as much as I can. Playing against him was one of the highlights of my career. He is easily in the top two or three players that have been in my generation,

“I will listen to everything he and his staff tell me and hopefully take it all in and take things to the next level.

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“I want to show people in Scotland how much I have improved. I think I left a good player and I’m coming back a far better player – and also mentally and physically. I’m coming back as a natural leader. When I went down there I was almost like a wee boy.

“If you can’t handle the expectation at a club like this then it’s not for you but I believe that I can do that.”

Having the full backing of his manager has always brought out the best in Arfield, and votes of confidence don’t come much bigger than being the first Gerrard-approved arrival of his Rangers revolution.

The 29-year-old’s career flourished under the guidance of his last boss, Sean Dyche, whose miracle-working at Burnley extended to the Turf Moor outfit finishing the season as one of the top seven sides in the English Premier League. So, while his heart was gladdened by the prospect of working with Gerrard, it hung a little heavy to be leaving behind a man who has done so much for him both on and off the pitch.

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“It was the faith he showed in me, really,” said Arfield. “Probably the only manager who had done that before was John Hughes. Yogi really put faith in me. My three Huddersfield managers never really did that for me.

“I never felt as if I had a full run of games, but as soon as I went through the door at Burnley he knew what I could bring to the team. He got me to a place where I could just go and do all of my thinking on the pitch and let the football speak for itself.

“Thankfully and luckily, I was joining a team that suited my abilities. It was more of a combative team, more togetherness between the boys, and everyone was on the same page. By that I mean from the fans to the staff to the players.

“It was an environment that fully suited me, so I would say that Sean Dyche changed my life for the better.”

All of which only goes to show the pull of Rangers on Arfield for him to have left such an environment in the first place.

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“This was more attractive for me,” he said. “Growing up around these parts, you know how big a club this is.

“I wanted to come back up and I am at a club where I feel things can only go one way.

“It wasn’t really a tough decision to leave Burnley. I’d been there for a number of years and I wanted to be part of something here where Rangers are going on to better things.

“So, it wasn’t as big a deal leaving the Premier League as it might be for other players.There were a few other options in England but as soon as a club of this magnitude came in then it was something that appealed to me and my family, it was a no-brainer.”

One of Arfield’s first targets is to help his new team to the group stages of the Europa League, and he is almost certain that serendipity will mean that his old team could be standing in their way come the qualifiers in July.

“It would be unbelievable, wouldn’t it?” he said. “I feel it is inevitable. It is one of those things in football. It is the only profession where you think these things are going to happen.

“First of all, though, we have to get that through that first tie when it comes around. That is where our focus will be, and we have to do that to make it a possibility.”