Rangers will need to spend around £50m in order to catch Celtic.

That's the viewpoint of former Ibrox player and manager Graeme Souness.

While the Scottish football icon doesn't believe the gap between the Old Firm is as big as has been made out by some, the 71-year-old insists his old team need up to four high-quality additions to be able to compete with the Scottish Premiership champions.

Souness told William Hill’s new podcast, Three Up Front: “Right now, there is a gap between Rangers and Celtic, but it’s not insurmountable. Three or four quality signings could make the difference, but Rangers don’t have the money right now.

"If they were to spend £50 million, it’d be nip and tuck between the two of them.

"Rangers were the same as Liverpool last season, both could have won the league if they’d won the last ten games, and neither of them did it.

“Celtic were the better team, I’m not denying that, I just didn’t think that Rangers got pummelled in the Old Firm derby.

"Jack Butland only had two saves to make, although he did need to pick the ball out of the net three times. Two more shots on target all game, is that a suggestion they were on the back foot? No. That said, Celtic have better strikers than Rangers do right now.

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“Losing yet again is a really bitter pill to swallow for Rangers. But, I have been in football a long time and I know how quickly things change.

"There was a time where Celtic won nine titles in a row, and the Rangers fans would have been thinking, ‘this is it, we’re never going to win again’. They did come back, though, and then they went on to win nine in a row.

“Rangers just need money now. They finished second last year and spent £14 million on new players, Celtic spent double that and they won the league. They still managed to come second against them despite spending half the money. They just need an influx of money, that’s all it is.”