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I’m the Rangers golden boot winner who never was and urban myths exploded over my aborted Ibrox transfer
The need for a Rangers striker has been evident this season with Philippe Clement looking like he's finally lost patience with Cyriel Dessers.
But Hamza Igamane, despite his two goals when handed his big chance against Nice, is still raw with the 22-year-old Moroccan finding his feet in the Scottish Premiership. And how the light. blues could do with a frontman in his prime they once came close to signing for the kind of cash that they can only dream about just now. During the lavish spending days of Sir David Murray ’s tenure when Walter Smith was in charge, Rangers were on the brink of signing Brazilian Mario Jardel.
In fact, so close were they to signing the South American - who would go on to win two Golden Boots - that he was even paraded in front of the Ibrox crowd complete with Rangers kit before a a 4-0 win over Raith Rovers. Accompanying Jardel at the time was his stunning WAG Karen who almost caught as much attention as the player himself. In fact, it even prompted one Rangers Supporters Club based out of Lyall's Bar in Uddingston to temporarily change the name of their club to the Karen Jardel Loyal in her honour, with the club shield featuring a portrait of her. That impressed those stuck behind the supporters bus during busy traffic on matchdays.
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However, it all went sour and despite the mega hype over the proposed move. Jardel caught the attention of Rangers after bagging a staggering 67 goals in 73 appearances while on loan at Gremio from Vasco da Gama. This included 12 goals on the way to winning the 1995 Copa Libertadores which made him the tournament's top scorer that year.
Smith wanted to show Rangers's strength despite already being on their way to winning an historic ninth title in a row. But the move dramatically collapsed with the official line that he couldn't obtain the necessary work permit. The Scottish Football League could only sanction 10 work permits and had given the last one to Kilmarnock for their Ghanian defender Sammy Adei.
That theory was backed up at the time by Hamish Walker of the SFL who said: “We have received this application for Adei from Kilmarnock and we will now advise the Home Office of the details. It will be up to them to decide if it will be granted or not but, by the terms of the Scottish League management committee decision, Rangers will not now be able to apply on behalf of their player until this situation regarding Adei is decided.”
Jardel reportedly thought he would be able to obtain a Portuguese passport but it proved more difficult and he didn't have the necessary international caps for Brazil. He would later represent his country 10 times.
In the years since the move fell through, other theories have emerged. Smith's ex Rangers assistant Archie Knox said he failed to impress during training and in a trial match and that he had a shard of glass in his toe which stopped him from showing up well.
What isn't in doubt is that Jardel was very much the one that got away as he went on the rise - followed by an almighty fall - in Europe. From 1996 - the year of his Rangers near miss - to 2003 he scored 205 league goals in 198 league games in a spell with Porto then Galatasaray - where he scored against the Light Blues in the Champions League in 2000 and was the tournament's top scorer the previous season - and then Sporting. He won two Golden Boots, the first at Porto and the second at Sporting Lisbon when he netted a staggering 42 goals in 30 games.
But his fall was quite spectacular and much of it stemmed from the end of his marriage to the aforementioned Karen. He had personally thanked her when he scored his 100th goal for Porto, lifting up his shirt to reveal a t-shirt with a message for her. But they split in 2002, the same year he was left out of Brazil's World Cup squad and that triggered a downward spiral into drugs and depression.
He revealed he had a cocaine addiction after spending a lengthy spell on the sidelines after injuring himself jumping into a swimming pool in Brazil during the winter break of 2002/03. He said: "It all started with bad friendships. Then came my divorce, depression and drugs. This happens a lot in football."
Rangers actually tried to sign Jardel on two more occasions. The first came just the following year after his near miss by which time he was at Porto and then five years later under Alex McLeish after they had won the Treble in 2003.The Ibrox side were under the strain of the huge financial debt that would eventually see them collapse financially and couldn't raise the fee. One of Jardel's agents, Carlos Ganela, said at the time: "Sporting Lisbon are holding out for more money. There is a crisis in the transfer market at the moment. Sporting want £2m for Jardel, but Rangers want to pay £1.5m."
He did move to Britain that season with Bolton Wanderers his destination but it didn't work out in Lancashire where he failed to score a league goal. The striker moved Down Under to Newcastle Jets but it was another unsuccessful spell before he returned to his native Brazil for a succession of moves, dropping down the leagues. It was a sad end to such a rich career.
