Scout reveals why Hamburg signed Rangers centre-back David Bates
Hamburg chief scout Johannes Spors has revealed how he managed to snatch David Bates from Rangers.
And the relegated Bundesliga club’s main talent spotter has revealed why they made an unusual swoop into the Scottish market.
Spors said: “I noticed David Bates in my research because he got praise as a very young player in an important match for Rangers against Celtic and his data was impressive.
“He was a player who was obviously under the radar, so we watched the game again and he was really good.
“Then I flew to Glasgow, watched him live and then met him in person. Added to this was a very favourable contract situation.
“Sometimes you can discover players by random and that’s what happened here. There is no one way to find a player.
“With Bates, we were so confidence about the player’s ability, we would have signed him for either the Bundesliga or Bundesliga II - whatever league we were in.
“He has huge potential for development and he has the right mentality to make an immediate impact. We want players like him.”