Angel Rangel will always be grateful for 2010 Swansea City, Blackpool decision | OneFootball

Angel Rangel very nearly swapped Swansea City for Blackpool in 2010, he'll be glad he didn't in hindsight

After 11 seasons at the club which saw him play a key role in some of Swansea City's greatest days, Angel Rangel is a modern-day legend amongst the Jack Army, but it could have all been so different if the Spaniard had his way in the summer of 2010.

Rangel joined Swansea for just £10,000 in the summer of 2007 after Roberto Martinez went on a scouting trip to Spain to watch a striker, but instead came back to South Wales with the right-back, and he soon proved his worth in English football.

The Spaniard helped the Swans to the League One title in his first season at the club, before making a seamless transition to Championship football, so much so that he began to attract interest from Premier League clubs in the summer of 2010.

After narrowly missing out on the play-offs in Swansea's first two seasons in the Championship, Rangel was understandably keen to play in the top-flight, but the Swans stood in his way, a decision that the Spaniard will surely be grateful for.

Angel Rangel was the subject of Premier League interest from Blackpool

Swansea missed out on the play-offs by just one point on the final day of the 2009/10 season, with Blackpool pipping them to sixth place, and the Tangerines shocked many when they defeated Nottingham Forest and Cardiff City in the play-offs to seal promotion to the top-flight.

With Premier League money to spend, Blackpool looked to strengthen their squad ahead of their maiden campaign in the top-flight, and they launched a bid to prize Rangel away from South Wales.

Ian Holloway's side weren't the only side interested, with Fulham, Wigan Athletic and Scottish giants Celtic also keen, as per The Daily Mail, but with Blackpool putting money on the table, a move to Bloomfield Road looked likely.

Swansea were on their pre-season tour of the Netherlands at the time, and Rangel sat out a 9-1 victory over local side VCS, only increasing speculation that he would bring down the curtain on his three-year stay in South Wales.

However, newly-appointed Swans boss Brendan Rodgers was adamant that the club would not sell Rangel for the reported £750,000 that Blackpool had tabled, and was keen to tie the Spaniard down to a long-term deal.

Rodgers said: "An offer has come in to the chairman from Blackpool for Angel. But it has not been accepted.

"The situation is under control, and I am due to have a meeting with Angel. I want him to stay and there is an offer of another contract on the table for him.

"There is bound to be interest in him, like there was with Darren Pratley, because he’s a quality player. Angel is 27, in the last year of his contract and desperate to play in the Premier League. But so are we.

"We have no need to sell him (financially) and I think this is the place to be."

Despite reportedly telling the club that he wished to move to the Premier League, Rangel would stay put and play an important role in helping the club reach the top-flight after winning the 2011 play-off final, subsequently signing a new three-year deal with the Swans and cementing his status as a Premier League player.

Angel Rangel will be grateful Swansea City turned down Blackpool bid

While Swansea won promotion to the Premier League in 2011, Blackpool were relegated after their one and only campaign in the top-flight and Rangel may have been thanking his lucky stars that he didn't move to Bloomfield Road a year prior.

After winning promotion in 2011, Swansea enjoyed some of the most successful days in their history, winning the League Cup in 2013 and subsequently qualifying for the Europa League, where they came up against European powerhouses like Valencia and Napoli.

Rangel actually captained Swansea to a remarkable 3-0 win at the Mestalla against Valencia, an honour he never would have achieved had he left in the summer of 2010, and he'd remain at the Swansea.com Stadium until the summer of 2018, when he was released after the club's relegation from the Premier League.

The Spaniard made 374 appearances in total for the Swans, and despite ending his career in West London with QPR, Rangel has made Swansea his home and is still a popular figure amongst supporters, with his now-famous Welsh accent always drawing a laugh.

While the move to Blackpool would have been an attractive one for Rangel at the time, the trajectory of both clubs in the following years, coupled with the Spaniard's legacy at Swansea, means he will be grateful that the move to Bloomfield Road failed to materialise.