Every club has them. The transfers that got away, the kind of ones you think back now and ask, how did we not get the deal over the line?
In this series I have picked out a few, some of them, we will be happy to have missed out on, others and for the most part will leave you wishing, and thinking only what if.
PLAYER IN QUESTION: Jesper Blomqvist
DATE OF INTEREST: March 1995
Rangers in transfer tug of war is no new headline, although these days it’s more likely to be between us and some English league 1 side, such is the gulf in finances now. This one, however, was between Rangers, Liverpool, and Johan Cruyff’s Barcelona, not bad company at all.
Jesper Blomqvist, may not be a household name, but back in 1995 he was top drawer and tipped for the very top.
Blomqvist was a Swedish native plying his trade in his homeland for JFK Goteborg, he was a left-sided winger, who could both create and score goals.
Strangely enough, Rangers were the favourites to secure the Swedish winger’s services and were prepared to pay in the region of 4 million to make it happen.
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Quite why the deal never materialised is simple really, the player chose to stay at IFK Goteborg, helping secure another title in 1995, before making a move to Italian giants AC Milan, and most notably ManchesterUnited, a year later.
Blomqvist would go on to be part of United’s all-conquering treble-winning team of 1999, even playing in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich.
He would later go on to represent Everton, and Charlton before returning home to play in Sweden. I can’t help thinking, he would have proven to be a big asset for us, but had we signed him we wouldn’t have went looking for another Scandinavian winger, that turned out not too bad.
Steven Harrigan
@steven_harrigan
@rangersnewsuk