Former Dutch footballer Arthur Numan has revealed how he come to love Glasgow Rangers, after initially wondering what he’d done joining the club instead of Atletico Madrid.
The 54-year-old has been speaking to Soccer News about his career, which came to an end in 2003 after spells with Haarlem, Twente, PSV Eindhoven and Rangers.
He started his career in the Netherlands and moved his way up in the Netherlands, eventually joining giants PSV in a €1.27m deal in 1992.
He would spent six years at the club and make 229 appearances for them before joining Rangers in a €7.7m deal in July 1998.
The left-back went on to spend the next five years at Ibrox, establishing himself as a key player under Dick Advocaat, who had convinced him into the move to Scotland in the first place.
He would go on to make 161 appearances for Rangers over that period despite it being blighted by injuries, which stopped the number from being higher.
He also enjoyed great success at the club, winning the Scottish Premier League and Scotting League Cup three time and the Scottish Cup four times. He was also part of Rangers sides that won the treble in his first and last seasons.
That, ultimately, meant he went on to look back at his time at Ibrox with great fondness, having at first wondered what he’d done by accepting the Rangers move when Atletico Madrid was also an option.
“I then received an offer from Atletico Madrid,” Numan explained, after detailing how Advocaat had asked him to join Rangers.
“We were eating tapas on the terrace and the weather was lovely there. But I had already promised Dick Advocaat to go to Glasgow Rangers.
“I thought to myself: ‘What have I done?’ After getting to know Scottish culture, the transfer to Glasgow was a good move. In retrospect, it was the best step of my career.
“Before I went to Scotland I had absolutely no idea how that competition worked, especially the rivalry between Rangers and Celtic.
“During those matches the atmosphere and entourage were really great. Sometimes I sat and looked around because the atmosphere was so great. You really have to experience that once, then you realize how much it means to those people.”
