A PLAYER who has spent the past three years plying his trade in the lower leagues of English football with Southend and Colchester as well as battling to avoid relegation from the top flight of the Scottish game with Dundee, would usually find joining a club like Rangers to be an intimidating experience.

Particularly when one Steven George Gerrard, the England great you idolised as an aspiring young midfielder growing up, is the manager who has signed you.

Yet, Glen Kamara, who completed a surprise £50,000 transfer from Dens Park to Ibrox in the final hours of the January transfer window on Thursday night, was undeterred as he arrived for his first training session yesterday morning. He had experienced it all before.

The 23-year-old launched his professional career at Arsenal, his childhood heroes, and he worked and played under Arsene Wenger and alongside household names like Santa Cazorla, Mesut Ozil and Francis Coquelin at the Emirates Stadium.

Being able to cope with the demands of representing such a well-supported club is as important as having a high level of technical ability, strong physical attributes and tactical intelligence when a player joins Rangers. Kamara, though, has no concerns on that front.

There is stiff competition for places in his area of the park with Scott Arfield, Lassana Coulibaly, Steven Davis, Ryan Jack and Ross McCrorie all vying for a start. That, too, will be nothing new for him.

“I think my grounding at Arsenal will help,” the Finnish internationalist said the morning after agreeing a four-and-a-half year deal. “I was there for five years so I think that will definitely help me deal with being at a big club like this.

“At the time, there were guys like Santa Cazorla, Mesut Ozil and Francis Coquelin to look up to as midfielders. I trained with these guys a lot. The one that probably helped me the most was Francis Coquelin. He would speak to me and was a really nice guy.

“They were all good guys, to be honest. I learned a lot from them all. Just watching them train, or training alongside them, was a great education for any player. I’m an Arsenal fan so there was a lot of excitement when you are younger and you join a team that you support.

“But when I knew I was coming to Rangers, when I signed that pre-contract, that was an amazing feeling as well. I knew this was such a big club with fans all over the world. I’m really excited about the future.

“I had to leave Arsenal and I guess I took a step back by going from there to Dundee. Now I have taken a step up and hopefully I can reach the top again.”

Kamara feels the season and a half that he spent at Dundee has been every bit as important to his development as a player as the time he spent at Arsenal even though the Dens Park club were battling for their Premiership survival throughout his tenure on Tayside.

“Obviously, no one wants to leave a club like Arsenal, whether you support them or not,” he said. “It was tough, but going to Dundee was amazing for me. I worked with Neil McCann and he taught me a lot as we pretty much played the right way.

“I’d say the decision to come to Scotland has definitely paid off. I wasn’t too sure about Dundee at first, but it became a revelation there and I learned a lot about the game.

“I think the experiences at Dundee were good for my mentality. You are not winning as much as you would like and things like that definitely toughen you up.

“As I said, leaving Arsenal was hard, but sometimes you have to take a step back to make another one forward. I’m just really pleased to be at Rangers.”

Kamara is, given the circles he grew accustomed to mixing in during his time in north London, not going to be starstruck by working with Gerrard at Rangers. However, the midfielder admitted his new manager had, even though he represented Liverpool, been a hero of his as a boy. He is hopeful he can learn from working with somebody who was arguably the best player in his position during his illustrious heyday.

“It means a lot to be signed by the manager and I’m just so excited,” he said. “He’s done it all, he’s been everywhere, he’s won the Champions League with Liverpool. It is great to have him as your manager. It makes you feel good about yourself and I am delighted.

“Obviously, I’ve watched him in loads of his games and it’s an honour to be selected by him to sign. The one that stands out is the 3-3 Champions League final against AC Milan in 2005.

“If Liverpool beat us (Arsenal) I might have been shouting at him! Probably a couple of times. But besides that I was alright with him, he was a fantastic player.”

Kamara continued: ‘I’m really exciting to be at a club with big ambitions. I was at Dundee for a year and a half and we were fighting relegation for most of that time.

“Coming here now, you are fighting for the title. It is a big ask, but it’s exciting and I am really looking forward to it.”