The pull of big European nights was a factor in why Kieran Dowell opted to swap Norwich City for Rangers.

Dowell’s camp held exploratory contract extension talks with the Canaries, after the attacking midfielder emerged as a key figure under David Wagner before a season-ending knee injury.

But the 25-year-old elected to follow Todd Cantwell to Glasgow, after three years in green and yellow, and could make his Champions League bow in a third round qualifying tie next week against either Genk or Servette.

Rangers begin their domestic bid to halt Celtic’s dominance of the Scottish Premiership this weekend at Kilmarnock.

“The opportunity to play in the Champions League is massive for a player like me,” he said. “Hopefully we can do the job (and reach the group stages). It was one of the many factors in coming here.

“Did I wonder if I’d ever get the chance to play in Europe? I guess, I never really thought about it. You tend to just take it season by season, as I did when I was down south. When this opportunity came, it was definitely an incentive for me.”

Dowell has been deployed in a deeper midfield role during a pre-season programme against the likes of Hamburg, Newcastle, Hoffenheim and Olympiacos, who won 3-1 at Ibrox before losing to the Canaries last weekend.

“The competition within the squad is crucial for us to have success this season,” said Dowell, in an interview carried by the Sunday Times. “I can play in a variety of positions, but have found myself a little bit deeper as a number eight. I’m enjoying it.

"There are a lot of good players who can come in, so it’s about stating your claim in pre-season and hopefully getting a run of games ahead of the season starting.

“It’s great to have had some good tests. Newcastle are a team who’re going to be in the Champions League, so that was a test of where we need to get to and where we want to be. It’s nice to have this amount of games leading up to the new season, so I’m sure we’ll be ready.

“In years gone by, I’ve had it where you don’t play the best standard of opposition and you feel great going into the season. But you’ve not really been tested.”