The 28-year-old became the 10th signing brought to Ibrox by Glasgow Rangers boss Mark Warburton.
Quoted by The Scottish Sun, Simon Grayson has described Joe Garner as a “friend” and an “icon” at Preston North End and backs him to shine at Rangers.
The 28-year-old striker signed a three-year deal with Rangers last week, having been at Preston – his boyhood club – since 2013.
Garner, who joined the Gers for £1.5 million according to talkSPORT, netted 57 times in 148 appearances for the Lilywhites, and Grayson believes he will be remembered as an iconic figure at Deepdale.
He could make his Rangers debut on Friday when Mark Warburton’s side visit Kilmarnock, and the Preston boss is confident that his friend will score plenty of goals for the Scottish giants throughout his stay in Glasgow.
“Joe is an icon of this football club,” he said via the Scottish Sun. “He will always be remembered for the part that he played. I class him as a friend as well as a workmate so we wish him the best.
“He’ll go up to the Premiership in Scotland where I’m sure he’ll do very well. I’m sure he’ll score lots of goals. It’s a different type of football, a different level of football he’s playing against. We wish him well.”
With Martyn Waghorn out injured, Garner will compete with Kenny Miller and Joe Dodoo for a starting spot at Rugby Park this week.
Miller has netted in each of his last two games – including an injury-time winner against Motherwell on Saturday – and Warburton will have a hard time dropping him. That being said, he is 36 and the Rangers boss may look to freshen up his forward line to preserve Miller.
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