I spent almost 20 years in the USA and saw at first-hand the growth of football from a minority sport to what is now very much a mainstream activity.

If you live in the States now you can expect to see the Premiership beamed into your living room every weekend, something that wasn't the case even as recently as five or six years ago.

With that interest has come a growth of wealthy businessmen keen to get involved in the game - from Manchester United all the way down the league we have seen the rise of American investment in clubs.

I have often wondered if any of them would be tempted to get involved in Scottish football, even although the revenue streams are obviously not comparable with the Premiership.

So it was with some interest that I noted financer Robert Sarver's interest in Rangers this week.

The US businessman has made a new offer of £20m for control of the club - £2m more than his original offer on Tuesday, which was rejected by the Light Blues board.

The additional offer of a £6.5m loan is also claimed to enable Rangers to be free of debt by repaying loans due to Mike Ashley and Sandy Easdale.

It is more than just an interesting offer for the Ibrox club.

It seems like a genuine opportunity to take Rangers forward and move away from the constant sniping and backbiting that have undermined the stability of the club.

While I don't know Sarver personally, what I would say is that he is not a charlatan.

He is a proven businessman with a solid reputation in the States - he is not a fly-by-night who is looking to make a quick buck.

He has run a very successful sporting franchise with the NBA Phoenix Suns, and learned of the opportunity through former Rangers defender David Robertson who coached one of his sons.

I have seen that quite often in the States where people get involved in football through their kids playing and it bodes well for Rangers that there seems to be interest in the financial side of things.

Getting someone like this into the club could be hugely instrumental in Rangers finding their feet again financially.

The original offer of £18m was rejected, but I always suspected that there would be a bit more negotiating to be done and it is now that the Rangers fans can use their voice to put the pressure on and insist that the offer is accepted.

Investment is critical and if there is someone knocking the door and asking to put money into the club then it really does put pressure on the board when they are refusing it.

Rangers desperately need some unity and everyone pulling in the one direction rather than the various different factions that are at work behind the scenes at the minute.

The current situation at the club is unsustainable. ]

The constant uncertainty undermines any growth and now that a sensible and attractive offer has come in for control of the club there is a genuine chance to start moving in the right direction.