On the topic of Niko and popular players loaned out, Cedric Itten’s debut goal in a friendly v second division side Jahn Regensburg got a few tongues wagging, but it’s kind of irrelevant given he scored several in pre-season, even attracting Gerrard praise, but still went out on loan anyway.

Both Itten and Katic have options to buy, both at £3M, which would represent a small profit in each case.

Neither player, as we discussed on Katic, fits Gerrard’s style. And Itten could nail 50 goals this season in the Bundesliga and still be third choice striker at Ibrox behind everyone else.

It’s just a question of who the manager likes, rates, and has plans for.

Gerrard knows Morelos wants to leave, but his place at Ibrox is safe for some time given no one wants to spend the £20M asking price, and Roofe should be safe for some considerable time too, not to mention Sakala.

So there’s just no space for Itten.

His days at Ibrox were numbered the moment Morelos remained last window – while Roofe fitted Gerrard’s style, the big Swiss doesn’t.

In truth, we suspect Itten was a club signing and not one of his own. Because, of course, signing players is not all down to the manager – as our management team have discussed, it’s a group effort.

The scouts find candidates, and as a group Gerrard, Beale, Gmac, Wilson and Milsom etc have a look and decide.

Gerrard does get final say, but if the other management all like a player, the chances are the manager will endorse him too, even if he’s not one he’s personally bowled over by.

Guys like Itten, Jones and Edmundson probably fit into this group – club signings the manager isn’t massively into, but it’s a team effort.

End of the day in Itten’s case we wish him well, but like Katic, we can’t see him in our shirt again. And we could make £3M back on him. Which is ok really.