THE personal attachment and the professional lure would have been too strong for many young players to even think about giving up.

Kane Ritchie-Hosler knew he had to cut his ties with Manchester City, though. The Premier League giants will still be the club he supports, but it is Rangers he now dreams of playing for.

A lifetime as a fan and a decade as a player ensures the Englishman will always think fondly of City. But he realised last season it was Rangers who could give him the chances he needed to make his breakthrough in the game.

His time at the Etihad has given the forward a grounding. Now he is determined to take the next steps in his career after making the move from Manchester to Glasgow in May.

“I am very pleased to be here, it is a massive club and I am grateful to be here,” Ritchie-Hosler said. “I am lucky to have a contract here and I feel it is a better chance to move forward.

“I definitely feel there is a better opportunity here than at Manchester City so coming up to Scotland will give me more of a chance of playing first team football.

“It was my childhood club so I do love Manchester City, but in order to progress I had to make the move and I am very fortunate to be here.

“I spent ten years at City so there is an emotional attachment there for me as well. But I am doing it for football reasons and even though it was my childhood club I knew I had to move on to Rangers for the best for my career.

“At City, they were quite separated and you don’t really see the first team that much. They are obviously around but they are on the other side of the campus so you don’t meet them that much. You see them train, though, and that was always good if you got the chance.

“I would say Raheem Sterling was the one I looked up to most. He is very dynamic, very quick and he loves to get a lot of goals so I look up to him. I like to bring creativity and goals to the team and use my pace, that is how I like to play.”

Given the galaxy of stars at first team level, and the array of talent in the youth ranks, that City have at their disposal, it is no surprise that Ritchie-Hosler sees a clearer path at Ibrox than was evident as he looked towards Pep Guardiola’s squad.

Rangers have invested significantly, both in time and money, in the Academy system and the 17-year-old hopes Steven Gerrard will reap the rewards of the individual and collective efforts at the Hummel Training Centre.

Ritchie-Hosler said: “The facilities are amazing and will help any player develop. I can see what they are trying to do in terms of getting players through so I couldn’t have asked for much more coming up here.

“The manager is a huge figure in the game so there is no better person to help you after everything that he has done. Not all first team managers do as much as he does with the Academy and it is great to know that he is looking in to the youth system.

“We all want to get to the first team so it is encouraging to know that he is watching us and hopefully a few of the boys can impress him.”

Gerrard has his sights firmly fixed on Porto this week as Rangers look to take a step towards qualification in the Europa League.

But he will have a glance back to Glasgow as the Light Blues aim to keep their own continental dreams alive against Young Boys. A 3-3 draw in Switzerland has the tie finely poised ahead of the return leg.

Ritchie-Hosler said: “It is a really strong team and I reckon that if we can get through then we can go really far in the competition. We want to play the best teams in Europe and this competition gives us a chance to really challenge ourselves and show what we can do rather than just playing Scottish teams.

“It is good for us to play these games because it tests you. We want to play the best and, if we can, beat the best as well.”

*Kane Ritchie-Hosler promotes the Rangers Lotto Campaign for the Rangers Youth Development Company. For full details on RYDC’s portfolio of products – Rangers Pools, Rangers Lotto, the new Union Jackpot half-time draw, Scratchcards and Stadium Bricks – visit www.rydc.co.uk or call 0141 427 4914.