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Dave King shares one of the first questions that Pedro Caixinha asked him

New Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha during the press conference (REUTERS)
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Ibrox side Glasgow Rangers hired the 46-year-old in March.

Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha before the match

Rangers chairman Dave King has explained to The Glasgow Evening Times why he hired Pedro Caixinha in March instead of when his contract expired.

The Portuguese was appointed as Rangers boss in March, after Mark Warburton was sacked in February.

Caixinha was at Al Gharafa at the time and there was only 45 left days to go on his contract with the Qatari club when he was given permission to speak to King.

New Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha in the stands

The Ibrox club had to pay a compensation fee as a result of the 46-year-old terminating his contract to join the Gers.

And King, speaking to The Glasgow Evening Times, says it was because he wanted Caixinha to have enough time to assess his squad ahead of the summer transfer window and Europa League qualifiers, which begin on June 29.

“Pedro asked me the question the very first time I met him. He said, ‘Dave, why did you pay the compensation to get me in when you could have waited until the end of May and got it for free?

New Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha in the stands with Pedro Mendes

“I said, ‘the reason we did that is that we will be in Europe, we have a new manager coming in and we need you to come in and assess the quality of the squad in the way you want to play.’

“The importance of that was emphasised by the Celtic 5-1 game. I think that was a very important game for Pedro. If he had gone against what he was trying to achieve and trying to shore it up and get a 1-1 draw he wouldn’t have learned about the players.”

Rangers fans look dejected