Tyrese Campbell reveals Rangers move ‘was going to happen’, but Michael O’Neill scuppered plans
Stoke City striker Tyrese Campbell came extremely close to joining Rangers in 2020, but he’s revealed that Michael O’Neill stepped in to halt the move.
Campbell was heavily linked with an Ibrox move in 2020 [Daily Record], with Steven Gerrard a big fan of the young striker. He was heading into the final few months of his Stoke City contract, and a lack of playing time left him frustrated.
Therefore, it looked favourable that Gers would swoop in and seal his signature, but Campbell revealed that a conversation with then-Stoke manager O’Neill changed his plans.
Speaking on the Beautiful Game Podcast, Campbell said (14:40): “Yeah, there were 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.”
“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.”
What could have been…
Looking back, signing Campbell for a bargain price when he was 20 years old would’ve been fantastic business by Rangers, but it sadly wasn’t to be.
Gerrard clearly wanted to implement him into the first team, and that would have helped relieve the pressure on Alfredo Morelos and Kemar Roofe at Ibrox.
Campbell looks to be an up-and-coming star in the Championship and will likely soon work his way up to the Premier League. His energy and pace would’ve been fantastic for Gers, but he’ll now have to be labelled ‘the one who got away’.
But it’s not all doom and gloom for Rangers – Giovanni van Bronckhorst ended up bringing in Antonio Colak in the summer and the Croatia international has been an instant hit in Glasgow.
The 29-year-old has scored 10 in 10 league games so far this season, so his scoring record will help Rangers fans quickly forget about Campbell and what could have been.
In other Rangers news, Andy Walker blasts Malik Tillman for his ‘dreadful’ performance v Motherwell