I'm sure Zungu grew up watching Liverpool legend Gerrard - Barker

Stellenbosch FC coach Steve Barker says Rangers FC new signing Bongani Zungu is now a complete player, thanks to the player’s early development under him.

Zungu started off his Premier Soccer League (PSL) career under Barker at Pretoria University, before joining Mamelodi Sundowns en route to Portugal, France and now Scotland.

At Rangers, the midfielder is coached by Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard whose persistence finally landed the South African who had reportedly attracted interest from La Liga clubs and Turkish giants Besiktas.

“I’m very happy that another South African will play for one of the biggest clubs in the world. I’m proud of his achievements,” said Barker as per Sun Sport.

“It is nice to know that one played a part in his growth. I brought him to Tuks [University of Pretoria] and he had a good season and moved on to Sundowns and the rest, as they say, is history.

“I’m sure Bongani would have grown up watching players like Steven Gerrard and looked up to him as a role model because he was an iconic footballer for England and for Liverpool.”

Zungu was one of South Africa’s standout players at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) where he scored two goals.

But his Bafana Bafana future appears to be in limbo as continues to be overlooked by national team coach Molefi Ntseki.

After being dropped from March’s postponed 2021 Afcon qualifiers, Zungu was again ignored for the October international friendly matches against Namibia and Zambia.

The player speaks glowingly about Gerrard’s appreciation of his talent as he compares that to Ntseki’s stance on him.

”For me it's clear. I'm not part of his [Ntseki] vision, part of his plans,” Zungu was quoted as saying by Sun Sport.

”Perhaps I'm not good enough for his team. There are no hard feelings. I get the message and I respect it. So, I won't focus my energies on that. I'm going to focus on my new team and in the coach that believes in me.

"It's very nice to hear the words of coach Steven Gerrard... talking about his belief in my abilities to bring me to such a massive club. I spoke to my family. They understand. No hard feelings.”