Rangers are now on the verge of announcing former Ibrox star Giovanni van Bronckhorst as the new Light Blues manager, according to The 4th Official's latest update on the Gers' hunt for a Steven Gerrard replacement. 

The lowdown: GVB profiled

Rangers are seemingly acting fast to replace Gerrard, who left to join English Premier League side Aston Villa last week.

Van Bronckhorst is well known to the Gers faithful after spending three years with the Light Blues during his playing career. He fetched a £12.15million transfer fee when he was sold to Arsenal in 2001.

The Dutchman has had two previous stints in senior management, first at Eredivisie outfit Feyenoord and more recently at Chinese Super League team Guangzhou R&F.

He boasted a near-62% win record in the former post, but that slipped to 35% in the latter (via Transfermarkt).

The latest: Matter of hours

The expectation following a 'really really positive' Saturday meeting between Van Bronckhorst and Rangers is that the deal would be done relatively swiftly, and that's now coming to fruition.

"According to my source," the The 4th Official's post on Monday evening read, "we shouldn't be surprised if Giovanni van Bronckhorst is announced by Rangers in the next 24-48 hours."

The verdict: The one fans wanted

If Rangers can get Van Bronckhorst in within the stated timeline, then he should be able to take the reins for the weekend's Scottish Cup semifinal clash with Hibernian. That would be something of a baptism of fire.

Still, they deserve credit for moving quickly, having scheduled discussions with a top candidate within two days of Gerrard's official exit - compare that to Celtic, who spent the entire summer in chaos chasing Eddie Howe and eventually landing on Ange Postecoglou.

And according to The Daily Record's Keith Jackson, Van Bronckhorst is the appointment most of the fans want too, so this update will be music to their ears and the atmosphere at Hampden at the weekend should be electric if all goes to plan.

In other news, Steven Gerrard wants these two players at Aston Villa.