DaMarcus Beasley believes that Rangers are not taking a gamble by paying £2.7 million for his American compatriot, Maurice Edu, even though the young midfield player has never played outside the United States.

Edu, who plays for Toronto FC in the Major Soccer League (MLS), made a swift detour from the Olympic Games in China to come to Glasgow to be wooed instead of returning home with the rest of the US side after their elimination from the football tournament in Beijing. The 22-year-old watched Rangers beat Heart of Midlothian 2-0 on Saturday and Beasley is backing Walter Smith’s judgment of his countyman.

“I think he’s worth that amount,” Beasley said. “Obviously if Walter Smith thinks he’s worth that then he is. The manager has a good eye for talent - Maurice will prove that. Hopefully if everything goes well and his work permit goes through he’ll be back with us after the international break. We’re excited to get him, though.

“He played at centre back for the US at the Olympics but is a defensive midfielder. He’s only 22 but is good with both feet, right or left. He’s a good size and he fights. He has a good head on him and knows the game of football. He’ll help us and push guys like Barry Ferguson, Kevin Thomson and Pedro Mendes. Maurice was MLS Rookie of the Year in 2007 and is up and coming for our national team this year and definitely has a big future. He’ll do well here at Rangers.”

Most American footballers eschew the MLS and head to Europe at the quickest opportunity. Beasley played for PSV Eindhoven and Manchester City before joining Rangers in June 2007. “It will be good for him that he has me here,” Beasley said. “I know from when I went to PSV that it can be a little rough. When you go to a big European team it’s not easy. Culturally it’s different and when you move to a different country all you have is football. Mo will find Glasgow a great city. He’s a young kid who wants to learn which is always good. He stays behind after training and looks to get better, spraying the ball around. He’ll push the midfield players here at the moment.”

Smith asked his former striker, Maurice Johnston, who is general manager at Toronto, about Edu. “It still depends on a work permit, so it will be a few days before we know about that,” the Rangers manager said. “We had asked Maurice Johnston if he thought there were any players in the American league whom he thought would do well, and he recommended two or three players.

“The clubs don’t own the players over there so the MLS are happy to let him go. We are in the final stages of tying everything up, but we still have to apply for the work permit. He is only 22 and has played the last number of internationals, so I’d hope we will get him. And he’s played in the Olympics.

Rangers are also hoping to complete the signing of Steven Davis within the next 24 hours after confirming they have finally agreed a fee with Fulham for the Northern Ireland midfield player who was on loan at Ibrox last season. “We have reached agreement with Fulham and we still have one or two things to settle with the player and his representatives but we are hopeful that one will go through,” Smith said. “That should happen in the next couple of days. It’s a transfer that has been really ongoing so we don’t want to count our chickens.”

Smith, though, hinted that he still has one final signing target in mind before the transfer window closes on August 31. A new centre half is almost certain after losing Carlos Cuéllar to Aston Villa and missing out on Glenn Loovens to Celtic.