David Goodwillie tells Rangers their late flurry of bids was destined to fail

The striker was involved in a furious tug of war between Rangers and Blackburn last week before the English side prevailed to land him from Dundee United in a 2.8?million deal.

Goodwillie was undergoing his medical at Ewood Park while Rangers made a desperate final two offers to United chairman Stephen Thompson. But the player insists by that point he'd already made his mind up to head south.

Goodwillie had been targeted by Rangers for over a year, but he insists that when the chance to join a Premier League club came up there was only one option.

United accepted an offer from Blackburn on the Friday and after a weekend of talks with the Lancashire side, Goodwillie had his heart set on heading south. He said: "On the Sunday night I knew I wanted to come to Blackburn and all the other stuff was just talk.

"I knew about Rangers' interest, but that was it. I was in a hotel with Ricky Gillies, he made sure my head was clear and I wasn't thinking about it. I was focused on coming to Blackburn."

Goodwillie was advised by United manager Peter Houston as well as his representatives to move south in order to get out of the spotlight. And he agrees that after all his off-field problems moving away from the limelight is best.

He added: "I felt I needed a fresh start in a new country and in a new league. A big factor is being away from the spotlight.

"If I stayed in Scotland I don't know if I could have gone to Tesco for my shopping without getting hassled. I spoke to Peter Houston, who has been great with me, and my advisers and everyone agrees that being down here is the best place for me.

"I don't want to criticise Scotland, but I think the best thing for me just now is to be down in England playing my football.

"It's the first time I have been away from Scotland to live and it will take time to settle but I will manage."

Goodwillie will now be facing the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool so is excited by the challenge. He will go straight into manager Steve Kean's squad for tomorrow's Premier League opener against Wolves and hopes to get in among the goals straight away.

"Playing in the Premiership is an exciting challenge," he added. "When you look at the teams you are playing against, the big names, it's a very attractive prospect. I know I need to work hard and give it my best shot. Hopefully I can achieve good things here. I'd like to think I'll score goals.I just enjoy scoring goals and it makes me feel happy.

"Getting a move straight to the Premiership was a bit of a shock, but it just shows what can happen if you work hard."

The Scotland squad man, who was recalled by Craig Levein for Wednesday's game against Denmark, was sold on a move to Blackburn after speaking to club officials about their plans for the future under Indian owners Venkey's. He said: "I spoke to a few people about the club and it's a good place to be. There are players of a similar age here and the lads have been brilliant to me. Everyone has made me very welcome."

Rovers manager Kean revealed that Goodwillie was one of his top summer targets and believes the fact they managed to hold off Rangers' interest shows how highly he rates the striker.

"He was the top young target we had for the summer," said Kean. "The way we fought Rangers all the way shows how serious we were about getting him.

"The bid went up six times I think, but we were prepared to go all the way to get him. I did want it done before Rangers played in Europe because it might have gone up even more if that was the case."