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Rangers have entered a new era

Rangers fans are aiming for the stars following the takeover from Andrew Cavenagh and the 49ers Enterprises group, who have already pledged £20million to Russell Martin's transfer kitty this summer.

And Ibrox diehards will also be dreaming of a return to the summer of 2004, where they defeated strong competition from around the continent to land one of Europe's hottest commodities at the time.

French defender Jean-Alain Boumsong had been a long-term target for the late Gerard Houllier at Liverpool and had also been strongly linked with Arsene Wenger's Arsenal and San Siro giants Inter Milan when he rocked up at Murray Park 21 years ago.

Boumsong was widely expected to make the move to Anfield on a free transfer from Auxerre at the end of his contract, but thanks to the work of his Monaco-based Scottish agent Willie McKay, it was Alex McLeish's Rangers who won his signature.

And while the 27-time France cap only ended up seeing out six months of the five year contract he signed, few players have made a level of impact at Rangers that the centre back did in such a short time frame.

The now 45-year-old scored two goals in 27 appearances for the Light Blues before he was snapped up by Ibrox hero Graeme Souness at Newcastle for £8million in January 2005, making Rangers a more than tidy profit on their investment.

Article continues belowJean-Alain Boumsong (middle) in action for Rangers in 2004(Image: Daily Record)

Despite his premature exit, the defender's 18 league appearances for the club where enough to see him granted with a Premiership winners' medal when a last-gasp brace from Motherwell's Scott McDonald handed Gers the title at the expense of bitter rivals Celtic.

After 18 months with the Magpies, Boumsong then moved to Italy to join Turin powerhouses Juventus, who had just been sent down to Serie B in wake of the Calciopoli scandal that stripped them of their top-flight title from the previous season.

Boumsong then winded down his playing career with Lyon and Panathinaikos - winning a Ligue 1 championship with the former - before hanging up his boots in 2013.

Former Rangers star Jean-Alain Boumsong celebrates Panathinaikos' UEFA Champions League Qualifying win over Motherwell(Image: Lynne Cameron/PA Wire)

The 2003 Confederations Cup winner then enjoyed a five-year stint as a TV pundit for beinIN Sports before going into coaching as assistant of the Cameroon national team but his spell in the country of his birth would last just 12 months.

However, Boumsong has now returned to Auxerre - where he scored the winning goal in the 2003 Coupe de France final against Paris Saint-Germain - as number two to boss Christophe Pelissier and is delighted to see his career come full circle.

Speaking to L'Yonne Reublicane, he said: "My home.

Monday, it was pretty much the same emotion."

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