Rangers FC signs Joey Barton to 2-year contract

Scottish outfit Rangers FC announced Tuesday it has signed midfielder Joey Barton to a two-year contract, picking up the 33-year-old as a free agent out of newly promoted Burnley after he helped the Clarets to an English Championship title this season.

Barton joins Gers after spending time with various Premier League outfits including Manchester City, Newcastle United, and Queens Park Rangers, as well as French side Marseille. He will become a free agent on July 1 before joining Rangers on a free transfer.

"Anyone who is a football person in Britain knows the strength of this establishment and the history and tradition that goes with it - you'd have to be a fool not to know that," Barton told RangersTV. "I was completely mindful of everything that has gone before at this club and I understood the expectation, but it's something I see as a really great challenge.

"This football club is something - as everyone has seen in recent years - far more than a football club, and there aren't many places like this left in Britain, indeed I think you could probably count them on two hands."

Rangers assistant coach David Weir hopes Barton can contribute to his team's cause in the Scottish Premier League.

"Joey is 33 now and I think he still has a lot of football ahead of him," Weir told the club's website. "He's come up here to play, he's come up here to contribute, and he's come up here to win football games. I think he's got a lot more to offer, he's got a two-year contract, and we want him to be here beyond that."