The great Nacho Novo of the Rangers has revealed the TRUE reason he declined Celtic’s offer.
After racking up 22 goals for Dundee, the diminutive Spaniard found himself at the center of an Old Firm transfer scuffle in the summer of 2004. Famously, Novo was seen entering Celtic Park through the front door after receiving approval to speak with Martin O’Neill.
However, the striker made a jaw-dropping decision to relocate to the opposite side of the city, and the Hoops supporters almost immediately began to despise him. With six trophies won and sixty-five goals scored in his six years at Govan, Novo went on to become an idol among Ibrox supporters. The rest, as they say, is history.
When considering the transfer drama, the 44-year-old is adamant that choosing Rangers over Celtic was the best move he has ever made. And Novo acknowledged that one of the main reasons Alex McLeish prevailed in the battle for his signature was the fact that he already had close pals in the Ibrox locker room.
He stated on the podcast Anything Goes with James English: “Both the Celtic and Rangers were making calls.” However, I used to frequently travel to Glasgow for dinner. I used to play with Mikel Arteta, Shota Arveladze, and Zurab Khizanishvili at Dundee.
“There were further performances by Gavin Rae and Claudio Caniggia. I used to return to Dundee after eating for a short while. To be fair, I believed Rangers had the better players and was the superior club. That’s how I considered it.
Novo enjoyed a spectacular first season and on that historic May 2005 day, scored the goal that caused the helicopter to reverse course. He moved from Govan to Sporting de Gijon in 2010, but he acknowledges that he has never felt quite as connected to a team.
“It was really like a family,” he remarked. Everyone is acquainted with one another. When I used to visit Ibrox, I would see folks like the doorman, the wives’ attendants, and those in the Cooper Suite. You would be familiar with every employee at the club.
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