The Rangers manager Steven Gerrard made Borna Barisic one of his early Ibrox recruits.
Steven Gerrard has claimed that one of his Rangers signings had trouble settling in at Ibrox – and struggled to win over his teammates and supporters.
Borna Barisic arrived in Glasgow during Gerrard’s first transfer window as Rangers manager, in a £2.2 million move from NK Osijek.
But it was not until recently that Barisic established himself as first choice not only for Rangers but his country, Croatia, too.
Asked how satisfied he has been with the 27-year-old, Gerrard told a Croatian reporter present at Friday’s press conference, broadcast via the official Rangers Youtube channel: “Very satisfied.
“I think he’s been a lot more consistent this season. I think he’s shown everyone the reason why he is the number one left-back for Croatia.
“I think he was a player that we always knew had the talent and the ability. It was about him putting it together on a regular basis.
“I think he had settling-in issues and it took him time to win the dressing room and the supporters over, but at the moment he’s in a fantastic place.”
Barisic is one of two Croatian players at Rangers, alongside Nikola Katic.
And the 27-year-old has his former Osijek teammate, the Albanian winger Eros Grezda, for company at Ibrox.
Grezda, though, is out of Gerrard’s plans at present, having spat at an opposition player while representing Rangers’ Colts team earlier this season.
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