Kevin Thomson reveals he told Rangers to sign Ryan Porteous as he opens up on his tip off to Michael Beale

The former midfielder has made the statement in the wake of Porteous' dark blue heroics.

Kevin Thomson has revealed that he told Michael Beale he should have been moving to land Ryan Porteous for Rangers after the defender's latest star-studded Scotland performance.

The Watford defender who left Hibs in January netted one of the three goals in an emphatic Euro 2024 qualifying win over Cyprus that puts the nation on the brink of a major party in Germany. He has emerged as a key member of Steve Clarke's backline and the former Hibs and Rangers midfielder can't believe Watford snapped him up for less than £500k.

With his Hibs deal expiring, there were some winter links surrounding a possible Ibrox move, but nothing ever came of them. Beale was a coach under Steven Gerrard when Thomson was coaching within the youth system at Ibrox and he has told BBC Sportsound that he advised the man who would become that Porteous was a defender he needed to land.

He said: "£450k for Ryan Porteous, Watford must be rubbing their hands, it's a steal. I actually told Mick Beale to sign him when I was at Rangers, when I coached in the academy."

Michael Stewart interjected with "that'd of gone down well" before Thomson started again. He responded: "He would have ended up with the same reputation as me! They are all developing. I am not being disrespectful to Watford but someone is going to test their resolve pretty quickly I would imagine with Ryan's performances."