Celtic eventually beat Rangers to the signing of the cultured play-maker.
Former Gers manager and player Graeme Souness shared how he nearly beat the Hoops to the signing of John Collins in 1990 when he was in charge at Ibrox, when speaking exclusively to BBC Radio 5 Live this morning.
The now 49-year-old went on to make 221 appearances for Celtic, although he failed to win a single league title during his time at Parkhead, with Rangers being totally dominant throughout that particular period of time.
Collins did win a Scottish Cup winners medal with the Glasgow giants in 1995, however, and racked up an impressive 47 league goals during his six year spell with the club.
John Collins
Things could have been so different for the 58-capped Scotland international though.
Souness told BBC Radio 5 Live how he nearly signed Collins and Ray Houghton for Rangers way back in 1990:
“They both showed a keen interest to begin with. But I think after speaking to whoever – whether it be members of their family or other advice they got – they decided it wasn’t such a great idea. And I fully get that.”
John Collins
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There has been a rather substantial power-shift in Glasgow since then, however, with Celtic racking up six consecutive Scottish Premiership titles since 2011.
Rangers demotion to the lower reaches of Scottish football five years ago certainly made their job that little bit easier though.
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