Serbian defender Rade Dugalic claims he has evidence of a collapsed switch to Rangers during the reign of Steven Gerrard on his phone.
The now 30-year-old centre-back currently turns out for Chinese Super League side Meizhou Hakka but the player’s career path might’ve been very different if Rangers had pounced.
Rade Dugalic is claiming that Rangers came very close to signing him during his time with Russian Premier League team FC Tosno, whom he played for before a stint in Kazakhstan with Kairat Almaty.
Speaking years on from the potential transfer, Rade Dugalic still claims to have the texts from Rangers on his phone and claims its something of a regret a move to Ibrox never happened.
More than that, the defender claims that he still, to this day, hasn’t got the foggiest idea why the deal collapsed.
Rade Dugalic claims he almost signed for Rangers
“Yes, there was an opportunity to play for Rangers,” Rade Dugalic said.
“They were very interested in me. I was waiting for the situation in Scotland to be resolved, but for whatever reason, it dragged on for too long.
“I was so desperate to sign I even got in touch with John Arne Riise, who was friends with Gerrard, to see if he could help push the deal through.
“So many people tried to get this deal to Rangers done, but it fell through and I never got to go to Glasgow. To this day, I have never had an explanation why.
“I still have all the messages on my phone! I do regret not signing for Rangers. But I think I have had a pretty good career anyway.”
Centre-back was often a tricky position under Steven Gerrard and Rade Dugalic appears to have been a genuine target as Rangers rebuilt under the Scouser.
But for whatever reason the deal appears to have fallen through and now neither Rade Dugalic or Steven Gerrard are at Ibrox.
Meanwhile, Nicolas Raskin could be set for a start in the League Cup Final against Celtic.
