​Gattuso: “I loved my time at Rangers – Gazza really helped me to settle in Glasgow”

The fiery former Italy midfielder, who has since turned to management with Milan, swapped Perugia for Glasgow in 1997 and made 34 league outings for the Scottish outfitbefore returning home.‘Rino’ went on to spend 13 years at Milan, winning Serie A and the Champions League twice. And he reveals that his short spell at Ibrox was a valuable stepping stone so early in his senior career.Speaking exclusively in the March 2018 issue of FFT, he says: “I loved my time at Rangers. Glasgow was the place where I first started to think like a professional footballer. When I played for Perugia, deep down I thought I lacked the mental strength to go out on the pitch and play without the fear of making a mistake.“But when I arrived in Scotland, everything was completely different. I understood that I could do this job at a very high level and was lucky to play alongside some really great players such as Brian Laudrup, Jonas Thern and Paul Gascoigne.”Like of most of Gazza’s team-mates, Gattuso has a tale or two to share about the ex-England midfielder, but the Italian is keen to stress how much the Geordie genius helped him.“Even if from a behavioural point of view he wasn’t exemplary all the time, Gascoigne would often offer me advice and really helped me to settle in Glasgow,” says the 40-year-old.“That’s the thing about Gascoigne; he’s famous for doing all those pranks – for example, he welcomed me to Rangers by doing his business in my socks – but there were also so many kind gestures that not many people know about.“He was always thinking outside the box and making the whole dressing room laugh out loud. I'll always have these memories of him and make sure that people know about his big heart."Read the full interview with Gennaro Gattuso in the March 2018 issue of FourFourTwo magazine, which features exclusive chats with Liverpool's new King of the Kop Mo Salah, Spurs’ South Korean star Heung-min Son, Manchester City goalkeeper and Real Madrid schemer Luka Modric. Plus, we preview all eight Champions League last 16 ties and learn about Man v Fat football, where losing weight is the secret to winning matches. We also spend a week with former Leicester manager Nigel Pearson in Belgium andgo One-on-One with ex-England boss Steve McClaren. Order a copy now, then subscribe!