Croat fan favourite Nikica Jelavic has revealed that when the option of moving to Everton came up, “it’s not something I was trying to make happen at all”.
The ex-Rangers man was speaking in an exclusive interview for the Official Match Programme of tonight’s Aberdeen game. In it Jelavic was open and honest about his ambitions at the time.
He never hid his ambition to play in the Premier League after joining from Europa League opponents Rapid Vienna.
Jelavic won the league title and league during his time at Rangers. He made 56 appearances and scored 36 goals. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
In an excerpt of the interview released on the Rangers site he said:
“I was never fighting my dream of playing in the Premier League and when I came to Rangers, I always said that was what I wanted to do.
“I never hid that but at that moment, when the move to Everton came up, it’s not something I was trying to make happen at all.”
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Nikica Jelavic was a class act at Ibrox and is fondly remembered
There were times in that 2010/11 season where Jelavic was unplayable. The striker could score from anywhere on the pitch, he could hit freekicks and he was fond of acrobatically smashing the ball into the net.
He’s a class act and a top player. He even got a goal On that famous day at Rugby Park and the 5-1 title winning demolition of Kilmarnock.
Jela, now 33, also hit the winner against Celtic in the League Cup Final that year.
TIANJIN, CHINA – SEPTEMBER 10: Nikica Jelavic now plies his trade with Guizhou Zhicheng in China. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)
Now playing in China for Guizhou Zhicheng, Jelavic only spent eighteen months at Ibrox. Jelavic went on to play for Everton, Hull City and West Ham in the Premier League before moving out to the Far East.
He’s still very fondly remembered in Govan. There’s a real feeling his time was cut short by what was happening at the club at the time. Jelavic’s interview seems to confirm that.
But more than six years later, have we finally an international star to take his place? And can he break a record tonight?