Incoming Rangers winger Daisuke Yokota has revealed that his mentor, German World Cup winner Lukas Podolski, once personally paid a chunk of his transfer fee when he moved to Polish side Gornik Zabrze.
The Ibrox side have agreed a £2.75 million transfer fee with Hannover to sign the 26-year-old Japanese wide man.
Yokota moved to Germany as a teenager to sign for FSV Frankfurt and has also played in Latvia, Belgium and Poland.
And he revealed the highly unusual role played by former Arsenal and Bayern Munich legend Podolski - who ended his career at his hometown club, Gornik Zabrze - when he moved there from Latvian outfit Valmiera for a £500,000 fee three years ago.
Yokota said: "Lukas Podolski is a truly wonderful person. My career has definitely progressed thanks to him.
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"He was a huge supporter of me when I moved to Gornik Zabrze and he was deeply involved in making the transfer happen.
"Not only did he actually contribute to part of the transfer fee himself, but he also actively worked on negotiations with the club.
"He always cared about me, helped me and supported me. Even after I left Poland, he continued to keep in touch and was able to give me advice.
"I'm truly indebted to him. It's a great source of pride for me to have played alongside such an experienced player.
"I had moved to Latvia because I just wanted to play every week. I knew nothing about the football there or the country, but I was pleasantly surprised by the standard.
"My time in a smaller league was a necessary learning experience for me."
