Connor Barron has Rangers trophies in sight as he rubbishes suggestion Serie A snub lacks ambition

Connor Barron has watched his old Aberdeen mucker Lewis Ferguson blossom into a Serie A superstar after swapping the Reds for the 'Red City' of Bologna.

But don't suggest for a second that Barron's decision not to follow a similar path and instead sign for Rangers lacks courage. The 21-year-old argues it’s entirely the opposite. It’s trophies and honours that the midfield dynamo has in his sights as he gears up for a fresh start after seven years at his hometown Dons.

Barron had heavy interest from Bologna boss Vincenzo Italiano and a concrete offer from Hellas Verona - where Scotland U21 team mates Josh Doig launched a fresh start two years ago - was also on the table. A clutch of Championship sides south of the border were set to hand him a move out of Scotland too.

But as he spoke to the media for the first time as a Rangers player he shot down suggestions the move lacks ambition. Barron said: “I don’t see that at all. My football does the talking. My job is being a Rangers player, being successful here and that’s it. I don’t think any player comes to Rangers that doesn’t want to win trophies. That’s what this club is all about.

“If you don’t have that ambition there’s no point being here. The ambition is to win trophies and if we don’t we get judged on that. So that’s why any player comes here and that’s he expectation of the club.

“There were a lot of factors that made me choose to come here. It is such a big club, with great people, great staff and a great following. The decision was made easy as soon as I spoke to the staff and people around the club the only place I wanted to be was Rangers Football Club.”

He might be small in stature but Barron has already shown he can handle himself in the Premiership engine after making just under 100 appearances for the Dons. Carrying the expectation of a Rangers support is another matter though. The pressure is on Philippe Clement and his players to deliver at home and abroad after a misfiring season.

But Barron - who featured in all six of Aberdeen’s Europa Conference League group games last season - insists he’s built to carry the weight of the light blue jersey. He said: “Yeah, definitely, I felt as if this was the right place for me. Since day one I have felt at home, and I can’t wait to get out there.

"I am a big character myself. I have been through a lot in my career so far and experienced many things and I want more experiences to come at this club and hopefully successful times ahead. You get a feeling, it’s hard to describe. You get a feeling within yourself when things feel right, and it did. Coming in, feeling the place, the training ground is magnificent, the staff are brilliant. Everything felt right for me. You just get that gut feeling that it is the right place for you, and straight away I knew it was.

“As soon as you come through those gates you feel it and you relish it. I’m buzzing to be here and I can’t wait to get going.”

Barron insists his chats with Clement have convinced him he has a big part to play in the Belgian’s plans to get the club back among the silverware. He is one of five new faces already in the door in another summer of change at Ibrox. And Barron said: “When a manager comes to sign you, it is always a great feeling. The gaffer here has done that.

“He has showed that he likes me as a player and that is all you can ask for. It is about me going and doing my bits on the pitch and making sure I do everything every day to get into that team and be a big player for this club.

“I will be working closely with the staff every day in training to add goals to my game. At times at Aberdeen I came up with a couple and then circumstances are different in terms of the team and the way we want to play. Coming to a team who play very nice football in a fluent way should help me add that to my game.”

The Scotland U-21 international’s performances for the Dons last season saw him on the cusp of a call-up to Steve Clarke’s squad that travelled to the Euros this month. It’s a tall order trying to break into a Scotland midfield packed with Premier League quality as his old Pittodrie pal Ferguson has found out.

But Barron has lofty ambitions on the international front. And he hopes the move to Ibrox can help bring them to fruition. He said: “My aim is to get into that full squad as well. That has been an ambition of mine since I was a young boy.

“That won’t change. As I said, a footballer does the talking on the pitch. If you perform you put yourself in the window to get into it. That is out of my hands and not my number one priority right now. My priority is to focus on club football and performing there will get me into the A squad. That will come in time hopefully.”