BRUNO ALVES admits he may have to consider his Ibrox future if a lack of game time with Rangers jeopardises his World Cup dream.
The 36-year-old has set his sights on a place in the Portugal squad for what is likely to be his last major finals in Russia next summer.
Alves has been an integral part of his national side for several years and was part of the Seleção group that won the European Championships in 2016.
But it has been a stop start few weeks for him in Light Blue as he spent time on the sidelines and was then overlooked by interim boss Graeme Murty.
And the former Porto, Zenit and Fenerbahce star knows he must be pulling on his boots on a regular basis if he is to continue on the road to Russia.
Alves said: “He (Murty) just spoke with me before the first game I stayed on the bench. But I always respect decisions. I am a professional player and I also respect all the other players who are fighting for the position.
“But I have my own ambition. I am still playing for the national team and I need to play. We have a World Cup soon and I need to play and be fit, to try and be at the World Cup.
“This is important for me. Not just to help Rangers, but I also want to help myself to go to the World Cup.
“I am an ambitious person. I like to play. If I don’t have space here or if I don’t play, I need to think about my future or about what’s going to happen next.
“I am happy playing. I respect everybody. I don’t want to be a problem to anybody, I want to be a solution,
“Every time, I have thought like that in my career. I don’t want to be a problem for any team or any coach, I want to be the solution.
“If I don’t have the space or I don’t play so much then of course I need to think about it.
“As always, I come to training and give my best. I do what I know to do.
“After that, the decision is not mine to play. That is the manager’s decision and I respect everybody, because sometimes I have played and someone else has gone to the bench or has not played.
“I think it is important that everybody respects everybody. And also that we respect the club. That is the most important.”
Alves was the standout signing of the summer for Rangers but it has been a difficult start to life at Ibrox for the veteran stopper.
Boss Pedro Caixinha was sacked in October after a shocking start to the season and the Light Blues are seven points off the pace in the Premiership.
Alves said: "I don't have any regrets. Pedro was responsible for me coming to Rangers - but I already knew all about the club.
"It was my personal choice to come here. It wasn't just down to the coach, it was the club.
"I don't regret coming to Rangers. I want to give more to the team and help it more.
"That was the reason I came to Rangers - to help the team be better and achieve the position the club used to be in the past. That's what we all want - to put Rangers in the right place.”
Rangers return to action against Ross County this afternoon just days after Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes rejected the chance to become Caixinha’s successor at Ibrox.
And Alves has been impressed with the way the Under-20 boss has handled a difficult situation in recent weeks.
He said: “Time will say but I think he has done very well.
“The communication with all of the players is very good and he can reach everyone.
“We understand him and respect him, and we do what he wants.
“I think he has the quality. He can give something and give what Rangers needs – winning games and performing well.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel