Ibrox side Glasgow Rangers have their own equivalent of Celtic’s Scott Brown since Scott Arfield returned to the Scottish Premiership, claims John Hughes.
Former Celtic defender John Hughes has told The Scottish Herald he believes that Rangers have their very own version of Scott Brown in Scott Arfield.
The 29-year-old left Burnley this summer to join Rangers on a free transfer this summer.
Arfield arrives at Ibrox with 86 Premier League appearances under his belt and Hughes, who once managed him at Falkirk, believes he could have a similar impact with the Gers as Brown does with Celtic.
Even at 32, Brown’s influence remains as strong as ever, with the no-nonsense Hoops midfielder captaining Brendan Rodgers’s side to yet another domestic treble this past season, as well as scooping up virtually all of the individual awards on offer.
The former Burnley star will come up directly against Brown in plenty of Old Firm derbies next season, and Hughes admits that he is “intrigued” to see such a battle.
He told The Scottish Herald: “As a Scottish supporter I am intrigued at what happens when when Arfield and [Graeme] Shinnie go toe-to-toe with him [Brown]. He is the best midfielder and I love everything about Broony.
On Arfield, the 53-year-old added: “To see him there [in the Premier League] and scoring goals I thought ‘good on you’. I always kept in touch and tried to give him advice on what to do and how to do it. He will not let Stevie Gerrard down – that’s for sure.
“I think he has learnt enough down the road to come back up and probably be the Scotty Brown of Rangers.”
Steven Gerrard will take the reins at Rangers and it’ll be interesting to see if the Liverpool icon, a former central midfielder, can help improve Arfield’s game. If he can, then Hughes’s comparison to Brown may not be that wide of the mark.
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