New Rangers midfielder Joey Barton has said that he joined the club after being 'seduced' by their history on a visit to Ibrox.
The 33-year-old turned down the chance to stay with newly-promoted Burnley in order to move North of the border and join Rangers, who themselves were promoted back to the top tier this season.
Barton admitted that he couldn't reject the opportunity to join such a successful club and hopes to help restore them to their former glories.
"I came up here a week ago and I was just blown away by the history and tradition in the stadium. That is really seductive for someone like myself, who is a football man. I had a great tour guide in [assistant boss] David Weir. As soon as I walked into the trophy room and saw the portrait of Bill Struth and the 54 pennants on the wall I was just bitten," he told reporters.
"When I saw what had gone before and when I spoke to the gaffer here and saw what an exciting future this football club could have, I thought it was an opportunity I just can't turn down. I had great options on the table. I had a phenomenal year at Burnley but what they are going to do next year is something I've done before. I had far better financial offers but I swore to myself a long time ago I would never make a career decision based on finance.
"You've got to be true to yourself as a human being. You've got to be comfortable looking the man in the mirror each morning in the eye. Coming to Rangers allows me to do that and know I'm taking on the correct challenge. I've played in the Premier League for a number of years. The last few times I've been battling relegation but in the cold light of day, the competitive animal in me wants to win trophies.
"I had a taste of that last year winning the Championship, with the collective and personal accolades that came with that. The easy thing would have been to stay with Burnley in a comfort zone. But I'm very keen to keep challenging my own perception of what the game is and experience as much of this great game as I can. Hopefully this is now a very successful period in the club's history and I can contribute to that."
Barton has joined Rangers on a two-year deal.
Barney Corkhill
