JOHN FLECK, the nephew of former Ibrox star Robert, signed for Rangers days before his 16th birthday on August 24, 2007 having made rapid progress through the youth ranks at Murray Park.

A talented midfielder/forward, Fleck was a key player for the club's double winning under-19 team in 2006/07 season despite his tender age and his ability to score goals as well as create chances made him one of Scotland's most promising young stars.

On July 12, 2007, he was called up for the first-team squad's pre-season tour of Germany and was handed his debut, albeit in a friendly, against SV Lippstadt 08 on July 15. Rangers won the game 4-2.

He then followed this by being named on the bench for SPL matches against Kilmarnock on August 25 and Gretna on September 1 although he did not feature in either fixture.

If he had been given the nod from manager Walter Smith he would have been one of the youngest players ever to wear a Light Blue jersey in a competitive first-team game.

On the international front, John captained Scotland under-16s to an 11-0 victory over Jersey under-17s, scoring a hat trick in the process and also skippered the same team at the 2006 Victory Shield competition.

Fleck scored his first goal for the club from the penalty spot in a 2-0 win over Dundee United on January 31 2009.

Just over two weeks later, he became the youngest Rangers player to start an Old Firm game since Derek Ferguson in December 1984.

During the 2008/09 double winning season he was officially recognised as a first team player, training and travelling full time with Walter Smith's top team.

He ended that season with 10 first team appearances, including seven starts, doing enough in the process to earn fans' votes as their Young Player of the Year.

Fleck will now view the 2009/10 campaign as an important one as he looks to make a more regular impact as he turns 18.