GRAEME Souness will hand new signing Barry Ferguson a licence to thrill when he makes his Ewood Park bow.

The Scottish international was signed too late to play at Chelsea today after completing his £6.5 million move from Scottish champions Rangers.

But Souness has earmarked the role he expects Ferguson to play and the Rovers boss is planning to get the best out of the 25-year-old's attacking instincts.

"He scored 16 goals last season, albeit with some penalties, and I am looking for him to be the further forward midfield player who will be supplying the two strikers with the kind of service they will relish," said Souness.

The Rovers boss admits he's delighted to have Ferguson on board, after immediately identifying him as his top target once Damien Duff was sold to Chelsea in the summer.

And the former Rangers manager passionately believes that the Glasgow-born schemer has got what it takes to be a Premiership star.

"I think he's the one outstanding player Scotland have at the moment. The challenge is to come and do it down here," Souness added.

"He's a young fella coming here with a lot to prove. The feeling in England is that the Scottish League isn't very competitive.

"But I've been there, and Glasgow Rangers never have an easy game of football. Every game is a like a cup final for their opponents.

"I know how excited he is about playing in the Premiership and he sees it as the place to be."

Souness has an impressive buying record as Rovers boss but he believes this summer's business ranks as his best yet.

He said: "When we sold Damien Duff and David Dunn, and two good, young British players left the club some supporters were critical of us.

"But with Barry Ferguson, getting in the players we have this summer has exceeded my wildest dreams.

"We are stronger than this time last year, although that doesn't mean we will finish higher than sixth."

Meanwhile, Ferguson today revealed it was the lure of playing in the Premier League which ultimately tempted him to quit Rangers for Blackburn Rovers.

Ferguson finally became a Rovers player last night after signing a four-year deal with the club.

And although he admits it's a wrench to leave Rangers, Graeme Souness's £6.5 million new signing is relishing the prospect of testing himself against some of the top midfielders in the world.

"Over the past two or three years I've had several offers to come and play down here but when I knew Blackburn were interested it just felt right," said Ferguson.

"I had a chat with my agent and my friends and it just felt right to come.

"Every single game here is a big one whereas without being disrespectful to Scottish football, you only get one big game a season up there and that's against Celtic.

"It is a wrench to leave Rangers. I've been there since I was a boy but I just thought it was time to make a change and I'm happy to be here."

Everton had also tabled a late bid for the Scotland skipper but the 25-year-old had set his heart on a move to Ewood from the word go.

"It wasn't a difficult decision to make. A few other clubs were interested in me but once I knew that Blackburn were interested this is where I wanted to come.

"I knew the manager when I was a young boy at Rangers but if you look about there's a lot of good players here and I obviously know Tugay and Lorenzo which helps as well."

Ferguson wasn't signed in time to make his debut in this afternoon's clash with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge which means he will now have to wait two weeks until Rovers entertain Liverpool at Ewood.