var playerInfo={"5588923A723573201F6804A11C3F390A":"7","9CFA5380AB449F58B34CD68741B77812":"1","805ACE40479B6E763FB50E182B20A495":"1981-2-19","5C3036D26CFC912788B0712D1AAE3BCF":"","781CC09C30E6A152":"1","3D0C18FC6E83B9810B0FAD6BF04C7B64":"2018-7-1","722D75C33935B48A":"68kg","02EB7DF46653B329":"Thomas Buffel","70545F9392E8422F11E2D5550E456F39":"Genk","0108B3B67855A673":"1580","4CC9C981935F4DF5":"Zulte Waregem","784E2315886D4158FF9CFFE843FE6B59":"","7CC3966A9B90B9412F1273E902F0953F":"Genk,Cercle Brugge,Glasgow Rangers","FCD4DE51CBA4497A941CDE925DCB26D2":"Belgium","38882684D19FD665":"Thomas Buffel","F4645409D3EE42C9":"1098","1D8DD001D97C012A":"175cm","ED1B32E089DA5A802C3D6EB75016A1DA":"<STRONG>Thomas Buffel was Rangers&#39; second signing of 2005 when he quit Dutch giants Feyenoord for a &#163;2.3million switch to Ibrox.<\/STRONG> <P>The&nbsp;young playmaker had been attracting attention from several big clubs across Europe - including Schalke, Stuttgart, Benfica and Anderlecht - but chose instead to sign a four and a half year deal with the Light Blues after agreeing personal terms.<\/P><P>Gers had been lacking a creative midfielder since the departure of Mikel Arteta and former boss McLeish&nbsp;believed that&nbsp;Buffel&nbsp;was just the player to fill that role and help push the club to domestic and European success.<\/P><P>Feyenoord spotted the playmaker&#39;s talents while he was still at school and rated him so highly that they made their move when he was only 16.<\/P><P>To accelerate his development, the youngster was then loaned out to First Division outfit Excelsior for two seasons where he was named Player of the Year.<\/P><P>On returning to De Kuip, Buffel went on to score 32 goals in two seasons but following the arrival of new manager Ruud Gullit found himself left on the subs bench, prompting him to seek a move away from Rotterdam. <\/P><P>A regular pick in the Belgian international squad, Buffel played against new team-mate Dragan Mladenovic when Serbia and Montenegro won 2-0 in Brussels in November 2004.<\/P><P>After being unveiled at Murray Park on January 5, Thomas said: &quot;I&#39;m delighted to have joined such a great club.<\/P><P>&quot;I realise it is going to be a hot race for the league title but I have come here to do something to help Rangers win that title.<\/P><P>&quot;The move came about quite quickly&nbsp;but I am really excited about this new challenge. <\/P><P>&quot;I spoke with Giovanni van Bronckhorst because I knew he was very successful at Rangers and he said great things about the club.<\/P><P><IMG hspace=10 alt=&quot;Thomas Buffel&quot; vspace=10 align=left src=&quot;http:\/\/www.rangers.premiumtv.co.uk\/javaImages\/4e\/1e\/0,,5~2956878,00.jpg&quot; width=160 height=138>&quot;I also talked with Pierre van Hooydonk because I played with him at Feyenoord and he was very enthusiastic about life in Glasgow so it was an easy decision for me to make.&quot;<\/P><P>Buffel helped the Light Blues to a CIS Cup\/SPL double in his debut campaign, pitching in with five goals.<\/P><P>He started to really impress in the final few matches of the season - scoring against Hearts and Motherwell - and set up Nacho Novo&#39;s title-winning goal against Hibs on the final day of the 2004\/05 season.<\/P><P>He followed this by making 38 appearances in 2005\/06 and the Belgian was a key player in the club&#39;s historic run to the last 16 of the Champions League.<\/P><P><\/P>","e_index":8};