STEVEN GERRARD believes he must strengthen every area of his Rangers squad after kicking off his recruitment drive with half a dozen signings already this summer.

The 38-year-old returned to Glasgow on Wednesday to get down to business ahead of Rangers’ first day of pre-season at the newly rebranded Hummel Training Centre.

Gerrard has already completed deals for six players – Allan McGregor, Scott Arfield, Jamie Murphy, Ovie Ejaria, Nikola Katic and Connor Goldson – in recent weeks.

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And there will be more fresh faces to come as the Ibrox boss looks to add strength and depth to his ranks ahead of the big kick-off.

He told RangersTV: “We have obviously assessed the squad from afar and now we have signed the contracts and become part of the club we have assessed the squad close up – the areas where we are strong, the areas we need to tweak, the areas we need to improve.

“Obviously it is out there now that we have got a decent start in terms of improving the goalkeeping area.

“We have added Allan McGregor to that, a legend who knows the club inside out, who is a positive signing and who is up for it and can’t wait to get going.

“Scott Arfield was a no-brainer on a free contract. Scott will help in a lot of ways, on and off the pitch, a fantastic player. And then the other main area was the centre-back area.

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“Russell Martin went back, Bruno Alves is at the World Cup, Bates left on a free, so that was an area where, first and foremost, we needed players, but the right players with the right profile.

“Players who are hungry and want to come in and defend this badge for their life. That was the message when we spoke to these players.

“It is not about coming in and being a Rangers player, it is coming, being a Rangers player and then defending the shirt for your life and both Katic and Goldson are right up for that challenge, which excites me.

“I think the centre-back area was obviously one we had to act pretty quickly on and try and get a head start on, just because of the changes and the dynamics of it.

“We are looking to strengthen every area, every area we feel like we can improve we will pounce and we will do it.”