Record Sport speaks exclusively to legendary nine-in-a-row hero Richard Gough who has become a mentor for Makhanya

Richard Gough was more than happy to pick up the phone after being asked to pass on some words of wisdom to new Rangers ace Olwethu Makhanya.

But the club’s legendary former skipper was relieved to hear the centre-back has already been advised to hang up on calls offering a January move away from Ibrox.

Gers’ nine-in-a-row winning captain is a close friend of Makhanya’s agent Rob Moore and was the obvious choice when the the 22-year-old’s support team went in search of a mentor for the young South African international.

Having been raised in Johannesburg himself, Gough can well understand the lengths the Durban-born defender has had to go to make it this far in the game. And given his impressive strides already in a blue jersey, the expectation is that Makhanya’s talents will soon enough lead him all the way to a big-money move. The only question: when?

Derek McInnes will be hoping Gers chairman Andrew Cavenagh remains true to his word after stating last week that the club expect a quiet winter window - with moves both in AND out of Ibrox kept to a minimum. But of course, there’s always the risk that those best-laid plans could be thrown up in the air by the agitations of player eager to test himself in one of Europe’s top five leagues.

According to Gough, though, the Rangers fans shouldn’t have to worry about that happening for some time yet having taken time out to chat with the Ibrox ace and his representatives last month. I got a call from a friend of mine, Rob Moore,” Gough explained to Record Sport from his home in California.

“He’s looking after Maka and he was ringing to ask if I’d seen him play. I hadn’t actually seen many of the games this season but one of the first I’d watched was the Old Firm game at Ibrox. I’d got up at 4am to tune in and I’m glad I did because both the team and Maka were exceptional.

“Now Rob is an agent who has been around the game a long time. He used to work with Benni McCarthy and Steven Pienaar when they played in England and had Victor Wanyama when he was at Celtic. He said, ‘Goughie, I’d love it if you could have a chat with Maka'.

“He’d only played six or seven games at this stage but was playing well and Rob said, ‘I’m a bit worried that he’s going to get picked up by one of the English teams in January.’

“What Rob really wants to happen is for the lad to stay at Ibrox for a couple of years say, get a hundred games or so under his belt and then make the move down south when he’s really ready for it. After all, he’s only a kid. He’s still only 22 and still learning to deal with everything going on around him. So that’s how I ended up having a wee chat with Maka.

“He’s a great lad, who’s been on an incredible journey. He started out aged 18 playing with Stellenbosch, which is a little wine place outside of Cape Town. I didn’t even know they had a team there! But that’s where Rob came across him. He told me, ‘Goughie, I've seen this young boy playing in the South African First Division. He just seems to stroll through the games. Nothing really affects him.’

“From there Rob signed him up, helped arrange the deal that took him to Philadelphia Union. And he told me he did the exact same thing there in the MLS - he strolled it. So now Rangers have managed to get him for £3million and I have to say, he plays the way I like defenders to play. He’s never on his arse! He’s always on his feet because he reads the game so well.

“The big test of course is the Celtic games. He played well in the first one but then he wasn’t really tested to be fair, which is a good sign. I always think a telling trait in a centre-back is how do they make their defensive partner look? And for me, Makhanya makes Fernandez look a better player. The big man looked a bit shaky early on in the season but he’s made him look a lot better.

“So I ended up having a really good chat with him before the Celtic game at Parkhead. I said, ‘Listen, this is a different game entirely. You’re going to have 60,000 fans screaming against you and it’s important you stay on the field.’

“He asked if I’d played there many times before. I said, ‘Yeah - and I didn’t lose there too many either!”

Makhanya’s record in the east end of Glasgow now stands at played one, strolled one after another near flawless display in a 1-0 win. His only misstep on the day was the brush of the ball with his hand that ended up costing him a stunning derby strike.

Gough - who joined Graeme Souness' Light Blues in 1987 - said: “Speaking to Rob, I told him that the game at Celtic Park would be a good test for Maka - but boy did he cope with it well. He almost got himself a goal too - and what a goal it would have been! Listen, it’s still early days for the lad. He’s barely played 10 games so far.

“I always think it's very difficult for anyone to come into Rangers Football Club and hit the ground running straight away. There's been very few players who have done that. I mean, even myself when I signed back 39 years ago now, was fortunate enough to scored on my home debut in the 2-2 game against Celtic.

“But I was an experienced player. I had 30, 40 international caps by the time I’d signed for Rangers, played in an FA Cup final with Spurs, a European Cup semi-final with Dundee United. So I was kind of experienced - but even I found it tough going to Celtic Park.

"Maka has come from Stellenbosch and the MLS, but he's just walked in to an environment as hostile as that like nothing's bothering him. He's still got a long way to go, obviously, but I think he's got a good mentality. When we spoke, I said to him, ‘Maka, I'm a fellow South African - I told him how I was brought up there - if you need to phone me, if there's anything you feel like you need to chat about, just call. I’ll be here for you.”

Moore may want his young client to stay where he is but already the rumour mill is starting to spin into action around Makhanya, with talk of Brentford and Sunderland being among the clubs keeping tabs on his progress.

“I'm sure there will be already clubs looking at him already,” said Gough. “But in all honesty, I’m not sure we can stop that. When I played at Rangers, we were in the top three in British football all the time. Top of the food chain. The money I was getting was top class and I was at the club I wanted to be at.

“But these days, the Scottish Premiership is no longer a competition where the top players want to play. It's the English Premier League. So if I was a young boy at 22, I'd be aiming for England. But hopefully if Maka does make that move, he makes it when he’s ready. We all know if someone offers, let’s say £30m in January, Rangers can’t turn that down.

“But the danger of going down there before he’s really ready, he might end up not playing. We had that chat but the good thing is that Maka seems quite grounded and he’s well looked after by Rob, who is a good guy.

“He showed that when Wanyama was at Celtic. He won a couple of titles there, played in the Champions League, scored against Barcelona - but only then did he take him to England. When he was ready."