Cousin joins Rangers for £1m to end nightmare period in France

The 30-year-old Gabon striker's move from Lens was completed in time to beat last night's 11pm European deadline ahead of Tuesday's crucial Champions League third qualifying round first-leg tie against Crvena Zvezda at Ibrox. Cousin's capture is timely in one other respect, with Ibrox striker Jean-Claude Darcheville having been advised to rest a niggling Achilles injury.

Whether Cousin can be considered match fit is another question. He has declared himself ready to play in tomorrow's league match against St Mirren, but admits he is "not 100 per cent fit" yet.

"If the coach asks me to play this weekend then I will play," he pledged last night at Murray Park. "It's a historic club. I feel very happy and very proud.

"I saw Ibrox earlier today and it is a fantastic stadium. I can't wait to play there for the first time."

Walter Smith hailed the capture of the 6ft 2in striker and highlighted his experience in what is a vital month for Rangers. "I am obviously happy to get this deal done and we look forward to seeing Daniel play for Rangers," he said.

"He is a very powerful striker and will bring something different to the squad. He's nowhere near as tall as the 6ft 7in reported, but has a great presence and is also good on the ground. Like Jean-Claude Darcheville, Daniel is a player who wants to try something different and this is a chance for him to do that. He is very experienced and is mature enough to cope with such a change."

Cousin was named on the bench by legendary French coach Guy Roux for Sunday's Ligue 1 opener against Bordeaux, which Lens lost 1-0. He came on for the last 20 minutes, having replaced Eric Carriere, but has been keen to leave Lens since last season, when he fell foul of the home supporters.

He scored only four goals in 30 league starts during the last campaign after falling out with his club over a gesture made to the home fans. The supporters had reacted angrily to an interview given by the player in which he stated he wished to leave the club, and Cousin retorted with a one-fingered sign which saw him reprimanded by Lens.

Roux, who was officially confirmed manager of Lens in July after four decades with Auxerre, left the player out of the Intertoto Cup tie with FC Chornomorets Odesa last month due to this strained relationship with the fans, and contemplated only playing the striker in the team's away matches.

"There are people who have come to my home several times trying to attack me in front of my family," Cousin said earlier this summer.

"One broke my car, another launched rocks at my window. I don't want to stay at Lens any more.

"I want to move and, if I have to stay here, the one thing I'll definitely be doing is moving house."

Cousin's subsequent transfer to Rangers has made this change of lodging a necessity, and he brings the number of players signed by Smith this summer up to ten.

The Rangers manager's outlay has stretched beyond the 8million mark, with defenders Carlos Cuellar, Steven Whittaker and Kirk Broadfoot joined by goalkeepers Roy Carroll and Graeme Smith.

The midfield and forward departments have been strengthened by Lee McCulloch, DaMarcus Beasley, Alan Gow, Darcheville and now Cousin.

The striker has scored six times in 14 appearances for the Gabon national team, and rose to prominence at Le Mans, where he scored 44 times in 128 matches. It was while he was there that he played with Drogba, the Chelsea striker.

In 2001-02, Cousin took advantage of an injury sustained by Drogba and established himself in the forward line for Le Mans, then in Ligue 2.

When Drogba was fit, he either did not play in the team or was moved out to the flank to accommodate Cousin, who started his senior career in 1997 with FC Martigues.