KILMARNOCK hero Youssouf Mulumbu claims he rejected an offer from Rangers before signing for Celtic in 2018.
The former West Brom and Norwich star joined the Hoops after a series of sensational displays at Rugby Park.
Steve Clarke threw the midfielder a career lifeline at Killie after spending a year out of football following his departure from the Canaries.
He played a vital role in helping the Ayrshire side's meteoric rise from the pits of the Premiership under Clarke, regularly bossing the Old Firm alongside Gary Dicker and Alan Power.
That form saw Brendan Rodgers call the midfielder to secure a move to Glasgow's east end ahead of the 18/19 season.
The DR Congo international failed to make it at the Hoops though, as he appeared only three times.
He would later return to Rugby Park on loan that campaign, as Killie incredibly finished third.
However, the 34-year-old has now claimed that he had numerous offers from clubs in Scotland to move from Killie - including an approach from Rangers.
Speaking to The High Press podcast, Mulumbu said: "I went to Kilmarnock to enjoy football, and it was crazy because I had played five games and Bordeaux in France called my agent and said 'We want Youssouf'.
"Steve Clarke was devastated. He said 'You are doing a very good job for me' but I said I was going to France to be around my family.
"The transfer didn't happen, I think on the Friday the transfer failed and on the Saturday we played against Celtic, and we won 1-0 and I scored.
"From there all the teams in Scotland offered me a contract; Aberdeen, Rangers and Celtic.
"One week before I signed for Celtic I had a call (from West Brom) saying I think we need a centre mid. This was crazy, 30 years old, knowing the club, having experience.
"I spoke to Darren Moore and he said he didn't think it would be good for the group, and an hour later Brendan Rodgers called me and said he wanted me to come after a great season.
"I messaged Darren Moore saying I really wanted to come back to West Brom, but I'm going to Celtic.
"It was just like going to PSG, big club, big fan base and big competition.
"I was going through a bad time from when I left Norwich, so I think when I went to Celtic people saw me as a good player.
"When I left West Brom, people said 'he was finished', when I went to Kilmarnock, people said 'he was finished', but going to Celtic people thought he was a good player."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel