Nacho Novo reveals the REAL reason he rejected Celtic for Rangers

The great Nacho Novo of the Rangers has revealed the TRUE reason he declined Celtic’s offer.

After racking up 22 goals for Dundee, the diminutive Spaniard found himself at the center of an Old Firm transfer scuffle in the summer of 2004. Once Novo was given permission to speak with Martin O’Neill, he was infamously photographed entering Celtic Park through the main door.

But the striker performed a stunning U-turn by opting to move to the other side of the city – almost instantly becoming a hate figure with the Hoops faithful. The rest, as they say, is history as Novo went on to become an idol with Ibrox fans, lifting six trophies and scoring 65 goals across his six years in Govan.

Looking back on the transfer saga, the 44-year-old insists picking Rangers of Celtic was the best decision of his career. And Novo confessed the fact he already had close friends in the Ibrox dressing was a major factor behind Alex McLeish winning the battle for his signature.

He told the Anything Goes with James English podcast: “They [Celtic and Rangers] were calling from both sides. But I used to go out all the time to have some dinner in Glasgow. I used to meet Mikel Arteta, Shota Arveladze, Zurab Khizanishvili – who I used to play with at Dundee.

“Gavin Rae played there as well, so too did Claudio Caniggia. I used to go for a little bit to eat then come back home to Dundee. To be fair, I thought that Rangers was the better club and had the better players. That’s what I thought about it.”

Novo savoured an unforgettable debut season and scored the goal that made the helicopter change direction on that famous day in May 2005. He left Govan for Sporting de Gijon in 2010 but admits he never felt such a deep connection at any other club.

He said: “It was like a family, really. Everbody knows everybody. I used to go to Ibrox and you’d see the people like the doorman, the girls who looked after the wives, the people in the Cooper Suite. You’d know everybody who worked at the club.

“You go to the training ground and it was the same. People had been working there for years. Even when Coisty, Gazza, Mark Hateley and Brian Laudrup played, all those guys used to know them as well. It’s a family, that’s what got me the most.

“You go to clubs and people come and people go. But they keep the right people and people that give their lives for their football club. That for me, is special. I don’t care what anybody says. This is why I felt connected.

“For me, it was new playing in front of 50,000 fans that I feel the love from them, but also I want to prove myself. I’ve always been a warrior in my life from the start to the end. It’s life, I was so happy because that was the best decision I ever made.”