Martin Skrtel has joined Atalanta, the Serie A club has confirmed. The former Liverpool defender has reportedly been on Rangers’ radar for a long time but he has opted to move to Italy instead.

The 34-year-old left Fenerbahce at the end of June when his contract expired, and there have been numerous reports, both in the Scottish media and in Turkey, linking the Slovakian with a switch to Ibrox.

Gers manager Steven Gerrard is a former teammate of Skrtel’s so such reports were expected, but the fact that the club already have four senior centre-halves always made a move unlikely.

Nicola Katic and Connor Goldson have started the season as the first-choice centre-back partnership but Filip Helander is expected to be a starter once he gains match fitness.

The Swedish international has yet to play a competitive game for Rangers following his £3.5m switch from Italian side Bologna last month.