GOOD TOCHI FOR A BIG MAN

New arrival sold on Ibrox move by his childhood pal Diomande

- BY SCOTT MCDERMOTT

Gers midfielder Diomande has known Chukwuani since the age of 14 or 15

TOCHI CHUKWUANI was probably always erring on the side of signing for Rangers.

But for the Ibrox new boy, it was handy having his pal as a middle man in the deal.

The 6ft 2ins Danish midfielder secured a £3.5million move from Sturm Graz to Govan on Sunday as Danny Rohl’s first signing for the club.

And Chukwuani has made it clear just how desperate he was to swap Austria for the Scottish title chasers.

But one of his old teammates, Mohamed Diomande, has revealed he played his part in the move too.

The pair have known each other since they were teenagers at the Right to Dream academy in Ghana.

Chukwuani and Diomande then had two seasons together at Nordsjaelland in Denmark, where they played alongside current Ibrox winger Oliver Antman.

When the 22-year-old heard of Rangers’ interest he immediately got in touch with Diomande - and the Ivory Coast international told him in no uncertain terms that he had to say yes to Rohl.

Diomande rates Chukwuani highly from their days in the Danish Superliga and is sure he'll add something extra to a Rangers team that's currently in terrific form in the Premiership.

They made it five wins on the spin with Sunday's 2-0 victory at Aberdeen, setting them up nicely for a Scottish Cup fourth-round tie at home to Annan Athletic on Friday night, when Chukwuani could make his debut.