‘Move was going to happen’: ‘Incredible’ striker says he came close to joining Rangers before he signed a new deal

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Stoke City striker Tyrese Campbell has lifted the lid on how close he came to joining Glasgow Rangers.

Before Giovanni van Bronckhorst replaced Steven Gerrard in the Ibrox dugout, the Scottish Premiership side were linked with Campbell.

On the Beautiful Game Podcast, Campbell was asked about the Rangers interest and said the move was going to happen at one stage, with his Stoke deal moving into its final months.

But not long after that interest in January 2020, Campbell signed a new contract with the Potters and is still with the club.

Campbell on Rangers interest

On the podcast, Campbell was asked ‘was there a time when you almost moved away?’

He replied: “Yeah, there was a couple of points where a move was going to happen. This was only really when I wasn’t really playing at Stoke, before I signed my new deal. I was 19, turning 20, I needed to play football.

“It was just one of those things where – nothing against the club or manager or players, anything like that – just me needing to play.”

When asked ‘was that Rangers?’, he confirmed: “Yeah, yeah Rangers. It was literally just that but the manager at Stoke, Michael O’Neill sat me down at the time and said ‘what’s going on?’.

“I said I’ve got nothing against the club I just need to play. He said, ‘if I pick you, are you going to play?’ and I said yeah, of course. I’m not going to not play. I don’t want to leave. I’m happy here. Played those games over Christmas and then went from there.”

O’Neill has since been replaced by Alex Neil, who was effusive in his praise of Campbell after the 22-year-old forward has started three consecutive games for the first time this calendar year.

Campbell scored at Preston this weekend and after that game, Neil said: “Basically it’s getting Tyrese to know where to utilise his strengths; what he’s particularly good at, how we try to isolate that and make sure he can show everyone what he can do.

“I’ve spoken about fitness levels to him significantly because Tyrese Campbell has got Premier League athleticism. He’s rapid, he’s strong, he’s powerful; he’s got Premier League level finishing, certainly on his left foot, he’s an incredible finisher.”