Fresh reports from China have suggested Giovanni van Bronckhorst's long time No.2 could be on his way to Rangers after all.
Jean-Paul van Gastel worked with the former Barcelona and Arsenal man in his first managerial gig at Feyenoord and then followed him to Guangzhou City.
The Dutchman is piecing together his Ibrox backroom team after taking over on Thursday which includes former Bayern Munich striker Roy Makaay, while he's also looking to add physiotherapist Arno Phillips and data and performance analyst Yori Bosschart.
But Steven Gerrard's successor is keen on linking up again with Van Gastel — who was made the top dog at Guangzhou when Van Bronckhorst left.
The second stage of the Chinese season begins in a few weeks and Van Gastel guided his side into the top four after a split in the first part of the league, which ended in August.
Guangzhou City made it clear earlier this week they expected Van Gastel to prepare the team for the resumption of the season and insisted they had received no contact from Rangers.
However, reports in China have suggested they have already lined up former China Under-21s manager Zhao Junzhe as the manager they want to replace the Dutchman.
Zhao won 71 caps for China before moving into coaching as manager of Liaoning FC and then the Chinese Under 21s team. He's been out of work since a spell in charge of Cangzhou Mighty Lions ended last year and could return to work as Van Gastel's replacement.
