When Rangers director Nils Koppen pinned his 14-point recruitment plan to the doors of Ibrox, procuring the best young Scottish talent was front and centre.
Alongside Scotland’s best youngsters, value deals from emerging nations and the Rangers academy also form a big part of Koppen’s Ibrox transfer focus.
Much to the frustration of supporters, Rangers remain in the midst of an evolution in the club’s much-maligned transfer dealings.
Rangers chairman John Bennett described the club’s ill-fated player trading model as a ‘myth’ whilst Ibrox fans have been left frustrated at failures to catch the Premiership’s best young Scottish players.
From Josh Doig to Lewis Ferguson, Rangers have failed to land these emerging talents and instead looked to big contracts for English Championship-level footballers.
But as the winds of change whistle through Rangers, one such Scottish-based player reaches another milestone with Ibrox eyes routinely glancing in his direction.
Lennon Miller scores first Scotland U21s goal
Motherwell midfielder Lennon Miller is probably the young Scottish talent of the moment north of the border.
The 18-year-old broke through into the Motherwell side last season and made headlines for his eye-catching and mature midfield displays.
This summer Rangers were reportedly watching Miller as Nils Koppen looks to build a dossier on those young Scottish players making their name outside of the Old Firm.
The Motherwell kid insists that this campaign is about progress, with Miller trying to add more goals and assists to his game from the middle of the Fir Park field.
And now the midfielder has taken yet another step in his impressive development with a commanding display for the Scotland U21s which resulted in him scoring his first goal at this level, on his first competitive start.
The cheeky midfielder is also claiming two assists.
In a 5-0 romp away to Malta, Lennon Miller delivered a perfect free kick onto the head of Celtic youth Dane Murray for the second goal of the game.
Miller then capped a fine performance with his first goal for the Scotland U21s and Scotland’s fourth on the night.
Miller is also claiming an assist for the fifth goal in the rout, when Hearts talent Lewis Neilson tapped home a scrappy effort following a hanging Miller cross.
A Maltese own goal had opened the scoring with Josh Mulligan (Dundee) scoring the third goal.
Can Rangers win Lennon Miller hunt?
Lennon Miller was also asked about his goal come the final whistle and admitted he was happy to play a hand in three of the Scotland strikes.
“I just kind of seen it go out wide and arrived in the box,” Miller told the SFA media team. “Luckily Daniel found me and I stuck it in the back of the net.
“Obviously as a midfielder you need to add goals to your game, it’s partly what you’re measured on, getting assists as well.
“It’s what I want to do coming into this season and I was thankful to get a few tonight.”
Rangers have been active in their change of tact already, signing Aberdeen youngster Connor Barron and putting him straight into the club’s starting XI.
The Gers faithful continue to follow the progress of Lennon Miller and the club will hope that the development of Barron turns the player’s eye towards Ibrox.
Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell has been clear that the Steelmen won’t let Lennon go on the cheap with Fir Park a solid place for the teenager’s development at present.
But that will likely change in the transfer windows ahead with both sides of the Old Firm believed to have an eye on the rapidly-developing talent.
