Their traditional colours of red, white and blue are not all that Rangers have in common with France these days. Slowly but surely the Rangers squad has adopted a strong Gallic flavour over the last three seasons, with Coach Alex McLeish enticing a host of players to trade Ligue 1 for Ibrox Park.

French players moving to the SPL in not a new phenomenon, but where the Scottish champions have broken new ground is in recruiting genuine quality, rather than shipping over untested players or veterans looking to be the big fish in a small pond.

McLeish is attracting big names to West Glasgow. Last summer’s captures of Jean-Alain Boumsong and Dado Prso on free transfers was a remarkable achievement.

Boumsong chose Rangers despite attracting interest from a string of Premiership clubs, while Prso, Croatia’s player of the year in 2004, was also in demand after scoring seven goals for Monaco en route to the Champions’ League final. While Celtic weren't looking, their Old Firm rivals had started reeling in some of the brightest talents in French football.

So good was Boumsong during his first six months in Scotland that Rangers knew they would be unable to hold onto the France international for a sustained period, and duly cashed in when Newcastle came knocking at Christmas.

McLeish will not have minded so much. By that time, Boumsong had done enough to steer Rangers back on course for the SPL title, McLeish's own position at the club had become safe, and the way had been paved for the arrival of more top Ligue 1 talent.

The trend continued this summer. Rangers returned to Monaco to sign defender Julien Rodriguez, while also bringing in Brahim Hemdani from Marseille and Jose-Karl Pierre-Fanfan from Paris Saint Germain. The significance of signing three players who have experience of captaining some of France biggest teams should not be overlooked.

Rangers may have missed out on Monaco striker Shabani Nonda, but there could be no doubt that McLeish had enjoyed another successful summer.

Prior to his recent raids on Ligue 1, McLeish had brought in Jérôme Bonnissel from Bordeaux, Fabrice Fernandes from Southampton and Hamed Namouchi from Cannes. Spaniard Mikel Arteta arrived from PSG while France Espoir Grégory Vignal came on loan from Liverpool last season, with Olivier Bernard arriving from Southampton this summer.

So what exactly is it that attracts these players to Glasgow?

The French link most certainly lies with McLeish. While Coach at Hibernian he brought the former Marseille player Frank Sauzée into the Scottish game, as well as David Zitelli, Mathias Doumbe and Marc Libbra. Didier Agathe, now starring for Celtic, was another of McLeish’s Hibs signings.

Sauzée is arguably McLeish’s best Gallic acquisition to date, as the midfielder was successfully transformed into a commanding sweeper by the Scottish trainer. His arrival at the Edinburgh club in February 1998 pre-empted the French explosion of talent that occurred following Les Bleus’ World Cup triumph later that year.

McLeish has a good reputation in France, thanks in no small part to Sauzée who has often spoken up for the Coach and the Scottish game in general. He described Scotland as somewhere players could enjoy their football, where the atmosphere was relaxed and less serious.

Positive word of mouth continues to spread quickly across the Channel. Both Hemdani and Pierre-Fanfan have cited conversations with the likes of Prso and Boumsong as key factors in their decisions to move to Govan.

Another crucial factor is Rangers Chairman David Murray’s luxurious home on the Cote d’Azur. Pierre-Fanfan’s agent is a neighbour of Murray’s and the Ibrox chief is aware of the benefits of conducting business on the mainland. “It would be like the chairman of Bayern Munich having a house in Scotland if he was trying to sign a Scottish player,” stated Murray.

“You can meet the players and their agents in an informal setting without them traveling half way across Europe and without the press being all over it.”

It is hard to see exactly where McLeish picked up his keen eye for French talent. As a player he never strayed beyond the Scottish highlands - his entire career confined to Aberdeen.

Whatever the reasons behind McLeish’s penchant for French talent, he will be hoping that the latest batch of signings keep the club at the top of the Scottish game, despite the club's slow start this season.

Rangers are also looking for Champions’ League glory and McLeish knows that the European experience that the likes of Hemdani, Rodriguez, Prso and Pierre-Fanfan picked up in France is likely to prove invaluable.