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[Timmy]

Rangers will seek to give their burgeoning friendship with Barcelona a more formal basis, with rising stars from the Nou Camp invited to toughen up in Scotland.

Informal talks have already taken place between Ibrox chief executive Martin Bain and Barca president Joan Laporta over the past fortnight as the clubs met in the Champions League.

Bain believes there are many ways in which Rangers could benefit from a link with the Catalan giants, who fielded 17-year-old Bojan Krkic as a substitute during their 2-0 win on Wednesday.

The teenager, as well as 18-year-old Mexican, Giovani, are on the fringe of Frank Rijkaard's first-team squad but there could be other youngsters on the Spanish giants' books who would benefit from a spell in Glasgow.

"I hope to maintain our link with Barcelona,' said Bain. "We have had two very friendly occasions with them.

"I had been over to Barcelona previously to look at their youth academies and the structure there. It is one we have looked at closely as we seek to maximise Murray Park.

"They clearly have an awful lot of talent beneath Frank Rijkaard's first-team squad and the idea of one or two coming over to Scotland is something we will discuss inside Rangers. Some of the 18 and 19-year-olds they have are fantastic and they put a lot of work into that side of their development.

"Commercially, of course, Barca are massive and there are always things you can learn from a club like that."

Barcelona's 'reserves' play in the second division in Spain, using a smaller stadium next to the cavernous Nou Camp for their home games.

Teenage sensation Bojan, the Spanish son of a Serbian father, came through the ranks there and has already etched himself into the local record books.

When he scored against Villarreal just before the first game against Rangers, he became the club's youngest-ever league scorer, at 17 years one month and 22 days - younger than Lionel Messi.

Bojan was blooded by Rijkaard in the pre-season games against Dundee United and Hearts in July. Bain's next date in the company of Laporta will be in Brussels next week when the G14 clubs gather to discuss expansion.

Celtic have been invited as full members, with Rangers asked to become 'associate members'.

The G14 group of Europe's 18 most powerful clubs are looking to influence UEFA on a number of subjects, including the format of the Champions League.

Interesting story from the daily mail.