Birmingham City boss Alex McLeish rates Alex Hleb among his best ever signings.
Hleb has joined Brum on-loan from Barcelona.
Eck said: "He skipped over tackles, a real crowd pleaser, but Rangers also got goals and assists and he bought into the team work ethos and that's what Alex reminds me of.
"On paper, I'd rate him up there with the best I've signed. Like every top player, he has to then come and prove he is world class and take the pressure that goes with it.
"I had Ronald de Boer at Rangers and he wasn't fulfilling his status until we had a chat and we spoke about a few things and all of a sudden he was a transformed man and scored 21 goals and took us to three trophies."
