Kevin Ciubotaru reveals he rejected Premier League interest to sign for Rangers
Rangers new boy Kevin Ciubotaru has revealed he turned down interest from England’s top flight in favour of a move to Ibrox last month.
The Romanian left-back completed a switch to Rangers after turning 18 last week, linking up with the club’s youth teams outside of the transfer window.
While speaking in an interview about the move [Scottish Sun], the youngster revealed that he turned down interest from nine different English clubs and said he can’t wait to link up with fellow countryman Ianis Hagi.
“I had trials and training at Chelsea, Spurs, West Ham, Watford, Southampton, Brentford,” he said.
“I first went to Chelsea in 2019 and it opened my eyes to British football, but I did not feel ready for it yet. I also went to Barnet for a spell because Edgar Davids was the manager there.
“They wanted to sign me, while Sheffield United and Leicester City offered to sign me up for their academies.
“The interest from Rangers was unusual because they were looking at videos of one of my colleagues and spotted me instead. They wanted more details and within a week they sent me a plane ticket and I flew to Glasgow.
“Rangers are an extraordinary club, with a superb training base, impeccable conditions and a special section dedicated to their own Academy.
“I just want to make the most of this incredible opportunity in my career.
“I met Ianis Hagi and we spoke a little. He’s a very humble man, I can’t wait to train and play with him in the first team next season hopefully. I’m sorry he got hurt pretty badly, I understand he’ll need a few good months to recover.”
Pull
The January window was one of great success for Rangers, as they received a record-fee for youngster Nathan Patterson from Everton before replacing him quickly with James Sands.
They also got a deal done for John Souttar ahead of a host of Championship clubs for the summer, while also bringing in Amad Diallo and Aaron Ramsey on loan and Mateusz Zukowski on deadline day.
But the signing of Ciubotaru shows that the club still have an eye on the future and are looking to identify stars in advance of their market value rocketing.
The 18-year-old has shown a great mentality already with his talk of joining up with the first-team next year and representing his country, so the boxes are being ticked.
If he turns out half as good as Hagi has been at the club, then they’ve hit the jackpot once again.
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