Kris Commons 'nowhere near joining Rangers'

KRIS Commons has insisted Rangers were never in serious contention for his services this week and that a move to Celtic was always his preferred option.

The Scotland winger completed his 300,000 transfer from Derby County to the SPL leaders yesterday, signing a three-and-a-half year contract which Celtic have the option to extend to 2015.

The capture of Commons is being widely viewed in the context of Celtic usurping Rangers to capture the 27-year-old with the Scottish champions having made an abortive attempt to sign him earlier in the week. But Commons has firmly denied joining Celtic because of the better salary on offer, claiming he did not even reach the stage of discussing terms with the Ibrox club.

"I never spoke to Walter Smith and I didn't have any contact with Rangers at all," said Commons. "I saw in the media that Walter was saying he liked me as a player, but I am completely unaware of anything to do with Rangers.

"I was nowhere near signing for them. Derby told me they had accepted a bid from Celtic and as soon as I found that out, I was up here to do my medical.

"As for the Rangers thing, and all the talk about money being bandied about, I swear to God it's all nonsense.

"There was nothing on the table from Rangers, no contact or contract offer. My agent had talks with a lot of clubs, but I've no idea if Rangers were one of them. He did say plenty of clubs were interested, but it was touch and go whether they were willing to pay the transfer fee for me in January.

"It wasn't like Celtic came in at the last minute and nicked me. For me, they were the only club that was interested and the only club I wanted to join. I knew for a while that Celtic had been watching me. Once they came in for me, I was up here as fast as I could. It was a no-brainer for me.

"It gives me an opportunity to play for one of the biggest clubs in Europe and to make a bit of a name for myself up here, as well as cement my place in the Scotland squad. I think the opportunity was too good to turn down on all levels. I didn't have the same opportunity at Rangers because there was no deal being done at Rangers. It was either going to be stay at Derby or join Celtic."

Commons, who is in contention to make his Celtic debut in this afternoon's Co-operative Insurance Cup semi-final against Aberdeen at Hampden, revealed he had received glowing testimonials about his new club from past and present Derby County team-mates. They included Kenny Miller in a conversation which took place before the former Celtic striker's recent move from Rangers to Bursaspor.

"He told me I'd love it here," said Commons. "I also spoke to Stephen Pearson. They both said I'd be treated like a king at Celtic. It's one of those clubs that no-one has a bad word to say about.A lot of players, if they've been at Celtic, either regret leaving or miss being at the club."

Commons is also enthused at the prospect of working under Neil Lennon, having been a team-mate of the Celtic manager for a brief period at Nottingham Forest. "He made a big impact on me when he was at Forest," added Commons. "The first impression was his winning mentality, a desire to win matches at all costs. When you play for Celtic, that's got to be embedded in you.

"Neil has given me no assurances about where I'll be playing or if I will be starting. But hopefully he has added quality to the side and if I play to my ability, I can give Celtic something different."

Lennon is confident Commons can make the transition from English Championship football to the demands of the SPL as effectively as striker Gary Hooper has managed following his move from Scunthorpe United last summer.

"I've had a chat with him about that," said Lennon. "He's in a different environment now, the pressure is very intense. Hooper has handled that step-up okay. Kris has got the temperament to handle it too, but he'll have to hit the ground running. He is coming into his peak years and I think he'll improve our squad. We've got good options in midfield now and there's no downside to that for me.

"He's a player I've liked for a long time. It didn't surprise me that Rangers were interested in him, I was surprised there wasn't more clubs interested in him. But it's not like we've nicked him from Rangers or anything like that. I think we were always in the driving seat to bring him here."

Lennon remains on the hunt for a central defender before Monday's transfer deadline and has quashed speculation linking left-back Emilio Izaguirre with a move to Aston Villa.

"There may be one or two coming and going between now and Monday," he said. "Whether we can strengthen the centre-half area, I don't know. But there's absolutely no chance of Izaguirre going anywhere."

One piece of business Celtic concluded yesterday was handing 19-year-old midfielder James Forrest a new five-year contract. "I'm glad to get the contract signed now and out of the way and I can concentrate on getting back in the team and winning the league," said Forrest, who scored in Wednesday night's 4-0 win over Hearts before going off with a hamstring injury which rules him out of today's semi-final against Aberdeen.

This afternoon's match is the first time Celtic have been in a semi-final since losing 2-0 to Ross County in last season's Scottish Cup. "We didn't do ourselves justice in the last semi-final we played in and sometimes in your career you don't often get the chance to do it again," said Lennon. "The players who are here from last year have a chance to remedy that and it will be a new experience for the players who have came in, but they're here to win medals and trophies."