Former Celtic striker Derek Riordan has revealed he could have signed for Rangers twice, but the club refused to pay enough to secure his services.
Riordan made his name as a prolific attacker at Hibs before moving to Parkhead in 2006, where he struggled to make an impact under Gordon Strachan. The three-time Scotland cap has now said things could have been very different had he followed his former boss Alex McLeish from Easter Road to Ibrox.
Rangers attempts to sign Riordan
Speaking on the Open Goal podcast, Riordan said: "I signed my contract [at Hibs] with Alex McLeish, he gave me a five-year contract. Just before he signed with Rangers..."
Asked if there was "talk" of him going to Rangers, Riordan went on: "Aye, Rangers tried to get me, I think twice. They never paid enough [to Hibs]. I wasn’t desperate to go.
"I had a load of choices to go to back then. All English, Cardiff, Leeds - I don't know why I didn't go to be honest. You don't think of money back then, then obviously you get older and you have kids and that."
Career after Celtic
After leaving Celtic, Riordan returned to Hibs for a three-year stint before making the switch to Chinese side Beijing Chengfeng. After just nine appearances and one goal for the club, he would spend time in the Scottish and English lower leagues.
Reflecting on his time in China, Riordan said: "I was there for about six months, but it felt like five years. The football was brutal. It was coming up, to be honest, but the grass was terrible. It was brutal.
"Some of the players were good - do you remember Sun Jihai from Manchester City? He was there. Two of my first managers were Serbian, and they didn't have a clue."
