Julien Faubert has admitted that he was sorting out the final details of a contract with Rangers when his agent received a call from West Ham United in 2007.
Faubert was widely reported to be on the way to Scotland in the summer of 2007, with Rangers largely expected to be close to signing the Frenchman.
And he does admit that he was a step away from joining Rangers and he was sitting with his agent and Rangers officials while sorting out the final details of the contract with the Glasgow giants.
The winger revealed that his agent took him aside and informed that a Premier League club were interested in signing him and it turned out to be West Ham.
He stalled negotiations with Rangers and was pleased with the way West Ham acted proactively to sign him with then-manager Alan Curbishley showing enthusiasm about getting him on board.
The Frenchman believes he made the best decision of his life when he refused to sign for Rangers and joined West Ham.
Faubert told The Athletic: “I almost signed for Rangers.
“We were sitting around the table and ready to complete the deal. Then my manager asked me to leave the room and said a Premier League team want to sign me and straight away I asked him, ‘OK, can we do something to go there and stop what we’re doing here?’
“He said yes and then we stopped the negotiations and met the people from West Ham.
“We travelled to Aix-en-Provence, which is in the south of France, and we were sitting and the secretary from West Ham was ready for us to sign the contract.
“I liked the way they approached me because they said they saw me play a lot of games for the under-21s and Alan Curbishley really wanted me to join.
“He spoke to me on the phone and my English was rubbish but I just knew it was the right club for me. Looking back now it was one of the best decisions in my life.”
Faubert made 121 appearances for West Ham before leaving the club in 2012.
