Earlier this month, Hamza Igamane opened up on why he chose to join forces with Scottish Premiership giants Rangers rather than make a presumably more lucrative switch to Qatar.
The striker, by his own admission, ‘took a long time to think’ amid fears that he would make a decision he would end up regretting.
Fortunately for Rangers, Hamza Igamane’s talks with Philippe Clement were enough to ‘convince’ the striker that Ibrox was the place to be.
Though the £1.7 million acquisition from RAC Rabat is not the only Rangers newcomer who found himself torn between two options when that offer arrived from Glasgow. While Igamane would pick between The Gers and Al-Gharafa, Robin Propper had to balance a fresh start in Scotland with the prospect of Champions League football at FC Twente.
The experienced centre-back captained Twente to a third-place finish in the Eredivisie last term, securing a place in the Champions League qualifying rounds.
But while it was Clement who convinced Igamane to put pen to paper, Propper opted to discuss with Vaclav Cerny and Cyriel Dessers – former teammates at Twente and Heracles respectively – while being convinced to leave his homeland for the first time at the age of 30.
- READ MORE: Rangers Transfer History 2016-Present
Robin Propper admits he was torn over Rangers move
“That just goes to show that you can’t plan anything in your career,” Propper now tells Tubantia. “It felt really weird. I had no plans to leave. I didn’t think about it at all.
“I was having a great time at Twente and we had a really nice group, full of ambition. I wanted to go to Europe with Twente. And, suddenly, I was gone.”
“I would have preferred to split myself in two – one part Twente, the other Rangers – but I had to make a choice. And as nice as I had it, this was the opportunity to experience another wonderful adventure abroad.
“Ten years ago, I was sent away from Vitesse and now I could go to Rangers.”
Per the Daily Record, Propper came close to leaving Enschede for an unnamed ‘top European club’ 12 months prior.
Rangers then took advantage of an agreement he made with the Twente bosses. One which repaid the skipper for his loyalty and opened the door for Propper to depart for a knock-down fee of just £1.5 million.
Propper explains FC Twente clause which permitted cut-price Rangers switch
“The year before, there were already some chances to leave, but Twente did not want to lose me,” adds Propper. “That was also Twente’s right. I did state at the time that, if I were to re-sign, there had to be a certain clause in my contract.
“That gave me the feeling that I still had my career in my own hands and had not completely cornered myself.”
Twente struggled to adapt to life without Robin Propper initially. While Rangers exited the Champions League at the qualification stage in controversial circumstances – Jefte’s red card against Dynamo Kiev still rankles – Twente were beaten 5-3 on aggregate by Red Bull Salzburg without their most reliable centre-half.
Propper is yet to convince in Scotland, however, with the pace and physicality of the domestic game proving to be an issue. Yet, he was still part of a Rangers backline recording their longest run of clean sheets in Premiership action since the Giovanni van Bronckhorst era prior to the 2-1 Boxing Day defeat at St Mirren.
