Celtic’s fire sale this summer has not been a surprise, however, what is a surprise is that Rangers were interested in signing one of their recent departures.
Olivier Ntcham’s career in Scotland was something of a mixed bag, he was clearly their most talented midfielder, however, in his last couple of seasons you could see he was disinterested to the extent that he was released from his contract and signed for Swansea City.
This is a player who, only last year, was being tipped for eight-figure moves to the Premier League having signed from Manchester City for £4million, where former Rangers sporting director, Mark Allene, ran the academy.
Speaking to the Swansea’s media team, Ntcham revealed how the pair were reunited on opposite sides of the Old Firm divide and that the Gers transfer supremo was keen to take him to Ibrox:
“Mark had a lot to do with the move as he has known me since I was 16 years old.
“He was the one who brought me to Manchester City and I spent five years there.
“We have a really good relationship, I must be honest and say I did not know he was working for Swansea as I had last seen him at Rangers when I was at Celtic.
“I was talking with him and the coach and our conversations about everything were good.
“It’s true Mark used to speak to me after the games against Rangers (and say he would like to sign me again).
“I used to think it was because he was angry as we used to beat them a lot, but it is true he used to say that. Now it is true.”
Allen was responsible for some of our first-team regulars in the squad today, however, the fact that we never made any successful signings from the Man City academy always annoyed me, especially when you consider his connections and how well he would have known the players – that Celtic had Jeremie Frimpong for less than 18-months and still made over £7m in profit is hugely frustrating.
Ntcham arrived at Parkhead before Allen commenced his role as sporting director and the chances of us coming to an agreement with Celtic would have been slim to none, especially given the valuation they had slapped on his head.
It is a lessen for Allen’s replacement though that by not keeping their word or by rewarding players financially that things can turn sour pretty quickly, hopefully Ross Wilson doesn’t make the same mistakes with so many contracts up for renewal.