Steven Gerrard reportedly wanted to bring Rennes’ Ligue 1 defender Edson Mexer to Ibrox but the Scottish Premiership giants have missed out.
Edson Mexer has scoffed at the notion that he has chosen Bordeaux over Rangers for a bigger pay packet, telling WebGirodins that he was swayed by the prospect of becoming a leader at one of France’s biggest clubs.
Rangers were very keen to make the 30-year-old defender the first signing of their summer transfer window. Manager Steven Gerrard was snapped meeting Mexer last week and, according to the Sun, the Glasgow giants had offered him a three-year contract.
But the Gers were left disappointed when Mexer swapped Rennes for Ligue 1 rivals Bordeaux instead with some fans taking to Twitter to accuse the Mozambique international of chasing the money.
Mexer himself, however, claims that isn’t the case.
“It was not a question of money. (Bordeaux manager) Paulo Sousa called me and told me about his very ambitious project, he told me that I was his number one choice in central defence and he wanted to make me a leader of his team,” Mexer said after signing a four-year deal.
“At my age, (the length of the contract) counts. It is above all a beautiful proof of confidence. Of course, money counts for a footballer, but ambitions are also important.”
There would have been few Rangers fans mourning Mexer’s decision on Sunday, however, when a superb Old Firm derby win against bitter rivals Celtic gave the supporters plenty to feel positive about ahead of Gerrard’s second season at the helm.
But, despite claiming a clean sheet in that 2-0 win at Ibrox, Rangers will still need a new centre-back with Joe Worrall and Gareth McAuley both expected to bid farewell over the summer.
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