Aris Limassol boss Aleksey Shpilevsky has revealed Connor Goldson turned down former boss Steven Gerrard's lucrative offer to join the former Rangers manager in Saudi Arabia.

Goldson left Rangers last month in a £1.5 million deal and opted to move to Cypriot football with ambitious Aris, despite reported interest from ex-Ibrox boss Gerrard, who is in charge of Al-Ettifaq.

And Aris' Belarussian manager Shpilevsky has praised the 31-year-old, who is currently sidelined for a couple of weeks with a knee injury, for resisting the lure of the Saudi millions.

He said: "Connor Goldson is one of the biggest ever transfers for both Aris and for Cypriot football.

"I spoke to him first after we played against Rangers in Limassol and we had a chat and he was very humble.

"But I couldn't imagine we'd ever get Goldson.

"When we first spoke to him about coming here, one of the first questions he asked was whether we had a team ready to challenge for trophies.

"Connor Goldson said no to Saudi Arabia and to working with his old boss Steven Gerrard in favour of coming to Aris for less money.

"It shows how hungry he is to be a winner here.

"And already the move has been great. You can see in training how good he is and he is also very good at helping the younger players."