Emir Dilaver has revealed exactly what happened when he was offered the chance to join Rangers under Steven Gerrard.
The Bosnian-Austrian centre-half, 33, had the opportunity to switch from Poland’s Ekstraklasa where he was starring for Lech Poznan in 2018 when Gerrard came calling for the then-27-year-old defender.
According to Dilaver it was a “very good offer” from the Ibrox side.
Gers would sign Niko Katic and hope to land Dilaver as an expected partner for the 28-year-old but it was a move which did not ever materialise.
Now former Champions League star Dilaver has explained the full backstory to the transfer interest from the Glasgow giants and reflected on his decision to snub the Light Blues.
For the former Ferencvaros and Austria Vienna star, he only ever wanted to leave Poznan for Croatia when he had heard that Dinamo Zagreb were interested.
And despite the best attempts of the Poznan boardroom to convince the player to join Rangers who had offered a better financial package to his club, Dilaver was steadfast in his desire to move to Dinamo.
Rangers tabled Emir Dilaver a ‘very good offer’ to join
That’s where he would win the HNL 1. three times.
“When I was at Lech Poznan, I got a very good offer from Rangers,” Dilaver said.
“I spoke to the club president, he was delighted with the compensation from Rangers and said they were waiting for me to sign.
“But then Dinamo Zagreb manager Nenad Bjelica spoke to me and told me he wanted to move there instead.
Why Dilaver snubbed Rangers for Dinamo
“I told our president, ‘Don’t bother with Rangers, if I’m going anywhere – I’m only going to Dinamo’.
“The guys at the club looked at each other in astonishment, thinking I was kidding… and I didn’t even blink.
“I told them I’m not going to Glasgow. Solve the compensation with Dinamo because I’m only going there.
“I got on a plane and landed in Zagreb and that’s where the best period of my career began.”
