Former Celtic striker John Hartson has criticised Rangers for “waving a contract under his nose” back in 2000 before removing their offer due to a failed medical.
The burly frontman would fail a medical at Ibrox before joining Celtic in Parkhead and going on to score over 100 goals for our Glasgow rivals.
Rangers cited a lack of fitness making him unsuitable for their Champions League run [Guardian] but Hartson genuinely believes he was treated unfairly by the Glasgow giants.
“Listen, I would have signed for Rangers without question,” said Hartson [Scottish Sun].
“I had no allegiance to Celtic at that stage. But I failed four medicals in my career and that was the best one. My feeling was that Rangers treated me unfairly.
“They waved a contract under my nose, took me to Ibrox where I was pictured, and then whipped it away again. Their mistake.”
Shortly after Rangers abandoned the deal for Hartson he would travel across the city to sign a deal with Celtic and the rest is history.
Even now Hartson continues to be a thorn in Rangers’ side with his shameless pro-Celtic punditry summed up by fabricating a story about Alfredo Morelos giving the middle finger to rival fans.
Hartson would later apologise for the incident but the former Wales international has plenty of previous.
If he’s not crying about handshakes at the end of Old Firm defeats, he’s bemoaning a global pandemic for interrupting Celtic’s title charge on talkSPORT.
Hartson spent five years at Celtic between 2001 and 2006, playing over 150 times for our Glasgow rivals.
