Rangers experience will never leave me and my '55' bond is everlasting - but I want to see another Ibrox title

Part of the last Rangers side to win the Scottish Premiership in 2021, the Switzerland international was ‘back in town’ on Tuesday night as his national team beat Scotland 3-0 in the Nations League on Friday. Appearing off the bench in the closing minutes, Itten won his 19th international as his post-Rangers career continues to blossom.

Itten has truly flourished since leaving Glasgow, bagging 50 goals during spells at Fortuna Dusseldorf and Young Boys, and he secured a major move to Bundesliga side Werder Bremen in the summer. However, speaking at Hampden after Switzerland’s win over Scotland, Itten’s passion for Rangers has clearly never waned. Swapping shirts with Nathan Patterson, he confessed the unique bond he shares with his former title-winning teammates feels unbreakable.

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“I get goosebumps when I think about 55 and reaching the Europa League final,” smiled Itten. “Those memories will stick with me forever and it’s great to come back and play in Glasgow. I won a trophy at Hampden with Rangers [Scottish Cup final vs Hearts in 2022] and it’s always a nice memory to come back here. I had a great time in Scotland. It was great to see him [Patterson] and brought back a lot of memories for us. We won 55 together and it’s good to see him with Torino after he did well in the Premier League. He was a good teammate here and we spoke a bit about our time together at Rangers.

“All of the players I played with have left the club now. James Tavernier was the last to go. But I am still in contact with the guys and I had a great time at Rangers. The squad of players that won the league will always have that bond. I speak to them on Instagram and when I spoke to Nathan after the game. It’s nice to see the boys doing so well and this bond that we have will stick together forever. When Leon Balogun went back, I spoke to him a lot as we shared the German language. But I speak to a lot of the boys, like Calvin Bassey, and it’s always nice to see them.

Reflecting on his time at Rangers and his decision to move on in the summer of 2022, Itten holds no regrets about his spell at Ibrox despite his lack of regular game time. “It is always a process,” he said. “You can learn a lot and work hard during those times. That’s what I tried to do. I knew that our team was really strong. We had great players like Amad Diallo who went back to Manchester United and did well.

“I knew that I had to be patient and work hard, but I felt I did well for the minutes I had. I scored goals in those games but then it got to the point where I said, ‘Okay, I need to play more - especially to stay involved with the national team. That is why I went back to Young Boys in Switzerland. But I learned a lot at Rangers and used the time when I wasn’t just focusing on games. It was a good time for my career.”

“Rangers have never left me. Everywhere I go, I see people from Scotland. I have been on holiday in places like Turkiye and Greece, and they come up to me and talk about 55. I always meet Rangers supporters on holiday and I love it. They still use my nickname too - ‘Ced the Ted’. I love their passion for football. It’s really unique. On Tuesday before the Scotland game, I posted that I was back in town and a lot of the replies mentioned ‘Ced the Ted’. I love that and it was amazing to see.”

While his own career often renders him unable to watch games live on a regular basis, Itten says he was able to catch their recent back-to-back victories against Celtic, and now hopes that the current batch of Rangers players can become the group that leads the club back to a league championship. “My fingers are crossed for Rangers,” said Itten. “I try to keep an eye on the results as much as possible. I was so happy to see the two Old Firm games go the blue way. Hopefully Rangers win the league again. I am cheering them on.”