Celtic domination over Rangers has forced me into rethink and new faces needed is into DOUBLE figures – Barry Ferguson

How many Rangers players need to come in to bridge the gap to Celtic?

A few months ago I’d have held one hand up and said five. It’s the million dollar question. My opinion has changed since then, I’m afraid. It’s another hand in the air and it’s more like 10 new faces required in what’s going to be the biggest rebuild at the club for a very long time. Celtic are the team on top, they have set the bar, it’s been total domination this season and Rangers need to chase them down.

There is a gap but it’s nowhere near as large as it’s been claimed and as for Celtic beating my old club to the 56 titles landmark? That can’t be allowed to happen. No Rangers team should require extra motivation to win a league but that incentive alone makes it imperative the league flag is returned to Ibrox next season. Michael Beale has already spoken about the size of the rebuild and admitted it’ll be the largest for years so that tells you what’s being planned and I’m genuinely excited by it.

It’s very difficult to put a number on it. I’ve doubled it in my own mind from five to 10 but much of that will come down to what happens to players already inside Ibrox. There’s the situation with those players who are going into their final year of their contracts. Are they going to be staying? What happens to the likes of John Lundstram and Glen Kamara, do they get offered extensions? What can’t be allowed is the scenario we have with Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent who have been allowed to run down their contracts and leave for nothing.

It will become clearer in the weeks ahead when we see who is offered what and that will impact on the head count of arrivals. How are Rangers going to raise the money required for this rebuild, are they going to look