Steven Gerrard has dropped a major hint that star asset left back Borna Barisic will set any suitors back around £30M should anyone want to prise him away from Ibrox.

Speaking recently about the Croat’s imperious form, Gerrard stated he’s not for sale, but if anyone does want to secure his services, they need only look at how valuable world class left backs are, and how expensive left backs who aren’t even world class actually are.

Citing Arsenal’s £25M man Tierney, plus the £12M for a deputy at Anfield for Andy Robertson, Gerrard states they are hard to get, putting his flag firmly in the ground about the world cup finalists’ star left back and the value it would take to secure him.

A ‘awful lot of money’ would be needed, but Rangers fans are of the mind these days that we’d rather keep a player as good as this, with the left peg he has, than sell for even something in the region of £30M.

Is it true that an SPL-based player could cost that much?

Yes, is the answer.

There’s no limit – Celtic got £12M for Van Dijk, £20M for Dembele then £25M for Tierney. The trend is upwards, and just because Scotland is a rubbish league doesn’t mean its prized assets are going to go out for buttons.

There’s a delusion that just because the standard of football here isn’t world class, that somehow world class players will sell for a third of their true value.

Well, we hasten to add – Rangers and Celtic are world-known names and brands, and their best players still go for big sums.

A world class player from this league might not quite fetch what he would in the Premier League, but he will still cost a tonne for anyone interested, which is said to include Leeds at the moment.

Either way, hopefully he’s going nowhere.