Ranger news signing Jon Toral has revealed that his compatriot Mikel Arteta helped push his transfer to Ibrox.
Toral is set to feature for Mark Warburton’s men until the end of the season according to their loan agreement.
The 21-year old Spaniard seems excited at the opportunity as he gets another loan deal after he had previously spent time at the La Liga playing for Granada. His move to his native was cut short due to the influence of the former Gunner skipper.
Toral is set to get a stable club after rising through the ranks at Barcelona. He likely decided to play in England with the hope that he would get better visibility and probably get first team action at the Emirates. Playing in faraway Spain would have made monitoring his progress a tad bit difficult. He claims that the advice of someone who has been in similar position – Arteta is also a La Masia grad – helped him decide to make Scotland his home for at least the next six months.
“I’m really happy to be here and I can’t wait to get started. I hope I can get to the game in Germany, if not the cup game next week. I know Gedion Zelalem had a great time here last season when he was on loan from Arsenal, so that was on my mind,” Toral said.
Arteta who himself played for two years at Rangers after leaving Spain helped the youngster get a good word in.
“I spoke to Mikel Arteta as well and he told me I would enjoy my time here, so that helped me take the decision. He told me how big this club is and how well looked after I would be here,” the youngster disclosed.
in Birmingham last year but would hope that Rangers offers him a greater platform this time around.