Marco Negri

Early career in Italy and breakthrough with Perugia

Negri was born in Milan on 27 October 1970. He began his career during the 1988–89 season with Udinese, making three appearances, and later also made five more for the club during the 1990–91 season. He spent the 1989–90 Serie C2 season with Novara, collecting 27 appearances. During the 1991–92 season, he won the Serie C1 title with Ternana, scoring five goals in 32 appearances, and helped the club earn promotion to Serie B. He spent the following season with Cosenza, however, managing only four goals in 25 appearances. In 1993, he joined Bologna in Serie C1, scoring 8 goals in 24 appearances, before later returning to Cosenza the following year, where he experienced his best season yet, scoring 19 goals in 34 appearances. He later made his breakthrough with Perugia during the 1995–96 Serie B season, scoring 18 goals and helping the club achieve promotion to the Italian top flight. He made his Serie A debut the following season, also scoring his first goal in the top flight, in a 1–0 home win over Sampdoria. Despite his impressive tally of 15 goals in the league for the club during the 1996–97 season, he could not prevent the side from facing relegation, however, although his performances caught the attention of other clubs.

Rangers

Rangers manager Walter Smith signed Negri from Perugia for £3.5 million in 1997. He was rewarded with instant success, as Negri scored 23 goals in his first ten league games,…