Celtic hero John Hartson has revealed that he turned down an approach to cross the Glasgow divide by joining Rangers.
The striker is fondly remembered at Parkhead for his contributions and goals during his spell between 2001-2006. But there was almost a quickfire return to Glasgow, with Rangers making an approach to sign him a year after his exit from Celtic.
He joined West Brom after his time in green and white but was quickly looking for an exit from the Hawthorns, eventually opting for Norwich City on loan instead of Ibrox due to not wanting to tarnish his Hoops legacy. That's also the reason he was never able to complete a move to Cardiff City, as he came from a family who were all Swansea City supporters. When talking about moving to a rival club, Hartson told Go Radio: "For me personally, I had a chance to go to Rangers after Celtic.
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"Sir David Murray called me up and said 'we would like to sign you now, the medical is gone and you have had your time at Celtic'.
"I was at West Brom. I don't think I would have ever been accepted at Rangers because of my success at Celtic. The 110 goals I got for Celtic I felt I might as well go and chuck them down a river, because I would never be forgiven.
"It's a huge rivalry. I'm not knocking anybody, but for me it's like all my family grew up as Swansea supporters. I just couldn't sign for Cardiff."
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