Rangers head of intermediate academy Mark Spalding believes that Craig Mulholland's dream of turning the club's academy as one of the best in Europe is "aspirational" but is surely achievable.
A recent appointment for the Gers, the 34-year-old comes with an impressive CV, having worked at the Global Premier Soccer Academy in the United States.
Giving an insight into his association with the Glasgow-based side, Spalding said that he was approached by the head of academy to take up the role while he was doing his visa application to go to America.
He worked for a while with the Rangers academy and built a rapport with the coaches and the players before going to the United States and was impressed with the vision that Mulholland had built for the club.
“When I was doing my visa application to go over to America in the first place, I’d actually been approached by Craig Mulholland", Spalding told his club's official site.
"I came in and worked while that process was happening, so I already had a flavour of where the club was going.
“I’d always been impressed with Craig throughout my time meeting him in terms of his vision – he wants Rangers to have one of the best academies in Europe.
“That’s aspirational, but it’s definitely achievable.
"It was always something that interested me through my time in the States, and the club I was working with over there had actually played against Rangers a few times at SuperCup NI, so that allowed me to keep up that relationship.
“I had worked really closely with David McCallum, and he is someone I was able to bounce ideas off during my time in the US, so when I was approached to come to Rangers, for me, it was a no-brainer."
Rangers are working hard to push talents through to their senior team, with big things expected from Nathan Patterson, Leon King and Kai Kennedy.
The Gers though lost top talent Billy Gilmour to Chelsea, where he is now in the first team.
