Rangers and Celtic have gone head to head for a number of transfer signings over the years.
Nacho Novo famously said ‘no thanks’ to Celtic before joining Rangers from Dundee in 2004.
Claudio Caniggia also opted for Ibrox over Parkhead, whilst the story of Maurice Johnston in 1989 remains one of the most legendary moments in Scottish football history.
But in more modern times, when it came to Rangers or Celtic, there was only ever going to be one choice for a legendary Northern Irish striker who made a big impact on the Old Firm derby.
Kyle Lafferty on turning down Celtic for Rangers
Celtic were tailing a teenage Kyle Lafferty during his time with Burnley and were desperate to take the lanky Northern Irish striker to Parkhead.
But the hitman has revealed that after Burnley turned down Rangers’ approach, the hitman’s Ibrox loyalties meant he refused to sign on at Celtic.
“Obviously Celtic tried to sign me two windows before Rangers obviously came in,” Lafferty told the Let me be Frank podcast.
“There was a bit of a bidding war at the time and obviously me, being from Northern Ireland, where I came from, there’s only one team obviously.
”So obviously turned down Celtic. (They) offered me more money, bigger sign-on, offered Burnley more money.
”But I was 19 at the time and I had to go in a basically tell Burnley that I wouldn’t be going to Celtic. It’s not in my blood.
”So if they didn’t accept the bid from Rangers I wouldn’t be playing for the club again.“
Kyle Lafferty claims he forced Burnley to sell him to Rangers
Kyle Lafferty has revealed that he forced through a move to Rangers after telling Burnley they were blocking him from ‘living my dream’.
Lafferty revealed that he contacted then Burnley manager Owen Coyle – a former Republic of Ireland international – and put pressure on the Clarets to sell.
Lafferty completed a £3.5m move to Rangers in 2008 and spent four years at the club, winning three league titles, two League Cups and a Scottish Cup under Walter Smith.
The striker returned to Ibrox under Steven Gerrard in 2018 but had a less than convincing second spell in Glasgow.
”Obviously I had people in my head back then telling me what I needed to do,” Lafferty explained. “More experienced people I thought at the time.
”So obviously to tell my manager, Owen Coyle at the time, because they were knocking back Rangers and basically stopping me from living my dream. It was difficult but it worked.”
