Caniggia happy with Ibrox life

Veteran striker Claudio Caniggia would be happy to end his career at Rangers.

The former Argentinian World Cup star will be 36 in January but believes he is still fit enough to play for another couple of seasons.

Caniggia has played for some of the world’s top clubs, such as River Plate, Boca Juniors and Benfica, during a long and illustrious career which also saw him capped 50 times for his national side.

He moved to Ibrox in June last year from fellow Scottish Premier League side Dundee in a bid to resurrect his international career – and he was subsequently included in the squad which travelled to Japan and South Korea for the World Cup finals in the summer.

Now the striker wants to extend his current deal at Rangers and will sit down with chairman John McClelland early in the New Year.

He said: “I enjoy being in Scotland and living here because Rangers are one of the best teams in the UK.

“I have a contract here for one more year and I would like to stay here for as long as possible.

“I think maybe I would like to finish my career here at Rangers. I will speak with the chairman in January or February to see if there is the chance that I could sign a new contract.”

His club-mate Peter Lovenkrands has already had talks over whether to extend his current deal and Caniggia insists putting pen to paper is best for the club and the player.

He added: “He is good for club and the club is good for him as well. There are so many experienced players here that he can learn from.

“But, at the same time, it’s good for the club to keep Peter for the future and in the future they can sell Peter for a lot of money.”

Caniggia was speaking at the Hilton Hotel in Glasgow, where he joined fellow Argentinian Julio Pablo Chacon, who fights Scotland’s Scott Harrison for the WBO featherweight title on Saturday night.

And the striker revealed that an interest in boxing – as well as football - was encouraged as a youngster by amateur boxer father Hugo.

He said: “I enjoy boxing – my father was an amateur boxer and he took me to see so many fights when I was young.

“I’ve seen Chacon so many times in Buenos Aires and I think he can win. We are good friends and I know him so well.

“He deserves to be a world champion just now. He’s a very good fighter and I will be there on Saturday.”