Rangers yesterday completed the signing of Italian international defender Sergio Porrini from Juventus for a fee of around #3m. Porrini, Rangers fifth signing in preparation for the new season, has signed a four-year contract thought to be worth #750,000 per annum, and was paraded at Ibrox by assistant manager, Archie Knox.

Knox's superiors, immediate and ultimate, in manager Walter Smith and chairman David Murray, who usually enjoy the limelight on the occasion of major arrivals, were elsewhere trying to prevent a serious departure. They were at Murray's holiday home in Jersey with Brian Laudrup trying to persuade him to extend his contract at Ibrox rather than move to Ajax.

''Nothing will be decided today. It is just an informal chat about the situation,'' Murray told the press. ''This is not about money, it about what he wants to do with his life. He will be the one to decide where he wants to play.''

Reports from Denmark still suggest Laudrup will be leaving, but at Ibrox, Knox was concentrating on welcoming another to his Italian family.

''This is a big acquisition for us,'' Knox said. ''Porrini is a player of quality and with European experience who we have been tracking for a couple of years since he played against us for Juventus in the Champions' League.''

Porrini arrives with a reputation for toughness and can play anywhere in a back four, although his preferred position is centre half. Knox seemed to suggest that Rangers may move away from the use of three centre backs, to a flat back four with the arrival of Porrini, who joins his Italian colleague Lorenzo Amarouso, signed from Fiorentina a fortnight ago.

Rule changes, as Rangers may well find out with Laudrup, mean that if a player's value in the market is high enough, there is little a club can do when he decides it is time to move on, no matter how big the club, or how long or lucrative the signed contract may be.

In the past it has been suggested that Rangers, and other Scottish clubs have been unable to attract players from the top bracket of European football, but this summer may be a sign that the trend can be bucked. Indeed, Juventus did not want to sell Sergio. According to his agent, Sergio wanted to come here.

The pulling power of Rangers' cheque book and their voracious ambition is likely to have been more persuasive than the reputation of the premier division, however.

''I do not know much about the Scottish league but I am delighted to join a big club like Rangers,'' Porrini said. ''I want to win in Europe with another team, and I believe that Rangers are a good team who can win there,'' predicted the man who already has a European Cup winner's medal with Juventus.

The task before the Rangers management team is a tough one, if success anything like that is to be achieved. By the first preliminary round on July 23, Smith and knox will have to gell Porrini, Amarouso, Jonas Thern, Staale Stensaas, Tony Vidmar and any other new signings into a purposeful team.

''It is going to be hard considering we have been saddled with two rounds before the Champions' League,'' Knox confessed. ''The players we are signing are of international calibre and for many of them the season has only just finished. We therefore will have to give them more time off, and they will join us a week later than the rest for pre-season training. Essentially we will have a fortnight for them to integrate before Europe.''

There is, however, no sign that Rangers are going to lessen their problem of integration by stopping signing players.

''No one in Europe is signing the number of players we are as we try to start an new era,'' Knox said. ''It is encouraging the quality of players we are attracting, and there may be more.''

That will fuel the close season rumour mill, but one player whose links with Rangers appear false, is Juventus's Michele Padavano. His agent Marcello Bonetto, dismissed reports that Rangers are interested in the 31-year-old striker.

''Michele is contracted to Juventus until 1999, and there are no signs that they wish to sell him,'' Bonetto said from Turin. ''I can confirm that Rangers have not made an offer for him, nor have they expressed an interest.''

Rangers may, however, be lining up an alternative if Dutch goalkeeper Oscar Moens decides not to join them from AZ Alkmaar. Reports in Italy suggest that the Ibrox club have expressed an interest in Parma goalkeepr Luca Bucci, who was part of Italy's squad for Euro '96. The speculation won't be over until a goalkeeper signs.