Rangers made me huge transfer offer but I told president not to bother listening - my club were astonished I snubbed them

Bosnian international defender Emir Dilaver has revealed he once turned down a "very good offer" from Rangers because he wanted to sign for Dinamo Zagreb instead.

The 33-year-old former Ferencvaros and Austria Vienna star was playing for Lech Poznan in Poland, having previously played in the Champions League, when Rangers were interested. But despite Lech chiefs pleading with Dilaver to accept the better offer from Rangers, he opted to snub them and move to Croatia instead where he won three titles in a row before returning at the end of last season.

Dilaver moved to Dinamo Zagreb in the summer of 2018, the same summer Steven Gerrard took over at Ibrox. The England and Liverpool legend carried out a major rebuild and they were on the hunt for a central defender with Niko Katic, now a Bosnian international team-mate of Dilaver, arriving at the time.

He recalled: "When I was at Lech Poznan, I got a very good offer from Rangers. I spoke to the club president, he was delighted with the compensation from Rangers and said they were waiting for me to sign.

"But then Dinamo Zagreb manager Nenad Bjelica spoke to me and told me he wanted to move there instead. I told our president 'don't bother with Rangers, if I'm going anywhere - I'm only going to Dinamo.

"The guys at the club looked at each other in astonishment, thinking I was kidding... and I didn't even blink. I told them I'm not going to Glasgow. Solve the compensation with Dinamo because I'm only going there. I got on a plane and landed in Zagreb and that's where the best period of my career began."