St Johnstone striker Fran Sandaza has offered a scathing critique of the way Rangers handled their bid to sign him.
The Ibrox club wanted the Spaniard to sign a pre-contract agreement but the player declined, leaving the Light Blues to state that they were dropping their interest.
He claimed Rangers had tried to ”get me cheaply” and suggested that, had he been playing for a club with a higher profile, the Ibrox side would have acted differently.
Sandaza, who reminded Gers boss Ally McCoist what he would be missing out on when he scored a spectacular winner for the Perth men in their 3-2 win over Hibs on Saturday, also stated he would have been worth at least 25 goals a season to the SPL champions, who remain likely to lose star frontman Nikica Jelavic before the transfer window closes.
Asked for his reason for rejecting the opportunity to agree a pre-contract deal, he replied: ”Why did I say no? Honestly, I think they don’t value me highly enough. They are trying to get me cheaply.
”It (Rangers) is a big club everyone would love to play for that team. I think that, if I play for that team, I am going to score 25 goals or more easy.
”If I were playing for a big team like Rangers, I trust in my possibilities to score many goals. I would score more than I do for St Johnstone, obviously, because you get more chances. Everybody knows that.
”So they have to value me properly and I don’t think they have done this with me (as regards) the pre-contract. That is why I am waiting, scoring many goals in this league and feeling good on the pitch.
“I’m not being big time, not thinking I am the best. No, I am working hard. I am humble.”
It was suggested that plying his trade in the SPL means he isn’t as attractive a prospect as someone from a bigger league.
He responded: ”Exactly, that’s why. That is why they think: ‘Ah, he’s a St Johnstone striker. He was injured last season, he did OK at Dundee United’. But I am the same player.
“Ask any coach who has worked with me. The best coach in Scotland, Craig Levein, can talk about me. I don’t have to prove anything. I am talking on the pitch.”
Asked if Rangers failed to show him a proper level of respect by not buying outright, Sandaza replied: ”I don’t know but if I had come from another league and I was doing the same as I’m doing here, they would say: ‘Oh, what a striker’.
”But I’m coming from St Johnstone and they think I am not worth as much.
“I don’t mind, though. I have full respect for them because they are a big club and Ally McCoist is a great manager with many good players.”
Sandaza was asked if there is still a possibility he could end up at Ibrox.
”If they really want me, they should show that they really want me, not play with me.”
He added: ”I have been working hard all my career to get to this level. That’s why I don’t think I could sign for money that I don’t think is good enough.”
So what club would this Spaniard like to join next? Wearing a big smile, Sandaza declared: ”I would like to play for Real Madrid.”