Andrea Caracciolo came very close to signing for Rangers in 2008, only to turn his back on an Ibrox move at the last minute.
Rangers had enlisted the help of Lorenzo Amoruso to sign his fellow Italian, and to explain to the player how good a move to Glasgow would be for him. Things looked to be going well, and then Caracciolo turned down the ‘life-changing’ Rangers opportunity, which didn’t go down well.
Shortly after the move to Ibrox had failed, Amoruso told the Daily Record: “The guy must be crazy. I do not understand him.
“These days football players are not what they used to be. I was given the same chance to join Rangers at the same age as Caracciolli and I grabbed it with both hands. But that’s because I wasn’t scared of the challenge or frightened of adventure.
“These days players just want an easy life. No one wants to fight or to better themselves any more. This guy doesn’t know what he’s missing.”
For Caracciolo, it seems the desire to be close to his family was bigger than anything else, so he turned down the chance to sign for Rangers, instead signing for Brescia from Sampdoria.
SampNews24 have quoted the now 40-year-old as saying: “It was just what I needed at that moment because I came from that experience at Sampdoria where I played little and therefore it gave me butterflies in my stomach. Then at Brescia I have always been well, I have many friends, many good experiences and I wanted to go home. It was not only Rangers who wanted me, but also Torino. I could also have chosen very well to stay in Serie A, but the call from home was too strong and exciting.”
And that’s why Amoruso was left angry on behalf of Rangers.
