Celtic starlet Francis Turley has revealed that Rangers wanted to sign him before he joined the youth set-up at the Scottish Premiership champions.
However, the teenager insists there was NO chance he was going to join Celtic's arch-Glasgow rivals.
A boyhood Celtic fan, Turley, 19, joined the Hoops in the summer of 2022 on an initial three-year deal.
He has gone on to establish himself as a regular in Celtic's B team, while also getting a taste of European action in the UEFA Youth League.
His one and only first team appearance came in a brief Scottish Premiership cameo against St Mirren.
He told the Belfast Telegraph: “Everyone from where I am from supported Celtic so signing for them was a bit mad.
“I had a few options, a few in Scotland — Aberdeen and Rangers — and a few in England — Ipswich, Burnley and others. But I wanted the Celtic move to work out.
"Rangers wasn’t going to happen, no chance.
"It’s always hard when you move over, that’s the reality of it.
“But I had stayed in the JD Academy in Jordanstown for two years from 14 to 16 five nights a week and that helped me.
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“Moving to a club in England or Scotland is everything you want and you have to give it your best shot. If you work hard, the rewards are there and we want to be footballers. I started playing for Ardoyne Youth Club when I was around six-years-old. I played there for about six years before joining Cliftonville.
“After two seasons I moved to Glentoran and then after another two years I moved over to Celtic. I trained with the Glens first team but never made a senior debut.
"Celtic had noticed me playing for Northern Ireland and had been interested for a good while. A scout watched me play for the Glens and I was invited over for trials.
“I was only 16 when the trials happened and an opportunity to move to Scotland. I was a Cliftonville fan so that was an unreal time for me. Glentoran were one of the best teams in the country so that helped me as well. It worked out well."
