DAVE KING insists the Rangers board will make funds available for the next Ibrox boss to spend during the January transfer window.

The search for Pedro Caixinha’s successor in the dugout was the main topic at the Light Blues’ Annual General Meeting on Thursday morning.

It is five weeks since the Portuguese was sacked but Rangers have yet to make their move to bring his replacement to Ibrox.

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Caixinha was backed with several million pounds during the summer and the next man at the helm will have his own budget to spend to reshape the squad he inherits.

King said: “The short-term answer would be yes but it is a decision he is going to have to make.

“The decision is whether he wants to work with what he has got for a while and go big in the summer or whether he thinks he might accelerate that and use some of it in January.

“That will be a combination of two things; one his personal assessment of what he thinks he has got in the squad.

“Secondly if he believes those who are available in January can add value long term or whether it is better to wait. The attitude is we will back him whether it is in January or in the summer.

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“How we invested this summer won’t make us more cautious in terms of making funds available because we have to make funds available; if we don’t then we aren’t going to become number one in Scotland. That is a non-negotiable.

“Where we have to be a little bit more cautious is in that as much as we felt Pedro was the right person for the job and at this stage we are looking for more British and Scottish experience.

“We are more cautious in whom we are appointing but we are not going to be more cautious in supporting the manager with investment. We are going to back whoever we appoint, as we did with Pedro.”

King fielded a number of questions regarding the managerial search from supporters in what proved to be a largely uneventful AGM at the Clyde Auditorium.

Interim boss Graeme Murty will remain in charge for the trip to Aberdeen on Sunday as he looks to follow up the 3-0 win over the Dons at Ibrox.

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Some fans have become frustrated at the length of time it has taken to make an appointment but King insists getting the right man is the main priority.

He told RangersTV: “The timescale in mind when he departed was to do it as soon as possible but being thorough.

“What that means, in terms of our investigations and evaluations, if a manager popped-up quite quickly that we felt was absolutely the right person then we would have sealed it as soon as possible.

“But, it wasn’t going to be an appointment we were making just for the sake of being speed.

“In this specific circumstance, if we look to what was available at this point in the season, even after our evaluations, we just didn’t feel there was an outstanding candidate we were willing to invest three years into, as it is a position we are looking to fill for three years.

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“So we were forced to look outside of those who were out of contract, and as soon as you move into that area, it’s a different type of negotiation.

“You’ve got to talk to clubs and talk about compensation. It has taken longer than we would have maybe liked, but not longer than is necessary.

“It’s just such a key appointment, and whether we take another week or so should not be a factor in deciding on an appointment we are going to make for over three years.”