The Roberto Martinez phone call and Brendan Rodgers moments that changed everything for Swansea City legend Angel Rangel

The Swansea icon has opened up on the nature of his move to South Wales in 2007 as well as revealing how he wanted to leave the club

Angel Rangel has revealed he had to search Swansea City online before joining the club as he didn't even know which country the Swans played in.

The defender signed for the Swans in 2007 when fellow Spaniard Roberto Martinez was manager of the club.

His move to South Wales came after Rangel had been working part-time as an accountant while playing football in his home country.

And while the opportunity to ply his trade in the UK was one he couldn't turn down, the right-back admits he had to watch highlights of the Swans on YouTube before knowing he was destined to secure a move to the Liberty Stadium.

"I was back in Spain at the age of 24. I was working part-time as an accountant. I was playing professional football but I had a semi-professional contract," he told the Moment of Truth podcast.

"We didn't have any kind of training ground. We had showers at home. We would train and play and the stadium in front of maybe 1,500 people.

"I did accountancy to earn some extra money.

"I got a phone call from Roberto Martinez explaining about Wales. I didn't even know where it was!

"I also had an offer from a top team in Greece. But the fact Roberto - a Spanish guy - phoned me, I went on Google and YouTube [to look up Swansea] and I saw 15,000 people in the stadium and thought 'wow, that's impressive'.

"They had Lee Trundle who was like David Beckham at the time. They had just played a final at the Millennium Stadium in front of 70,000 people.

"So I decided to come and see what the Swansea environment was like."

For Rangel, the rest, as they say, is history.

The Spaniard was a key figure in the club's rise up the divisions that later saw them enjoy a League Cup triumph and play European football during their seven-year stint as a top flight side.

But the club icon - who now plays for Championship rivals Queens Park Rangers - came close to leaving Swansea in 2010.

After impressing in his three seasons with the club, Rangel attracted interest from Blackpool who had beaten Cardiff City 3-2 to secure promotion into the Premier League.

However, having been promised he would be allowed to move to a top flight club should any interest arise, Brendan Rodgers prevented the defender from making the move to Bloomfield Road.

"He's such a confident guy. He doesn't care who he is managing, he will treat everyone the same way," Rangel said about Rodgers.

"I'll always remember the day he signed, we had a friendly game at Yeovil, and we had a one-on-one meeting where he said 'I know you've been having offers in the last couple of seasons, so if a Premier League club comes in, I'll let you go'.

"We went to Holland for pre-season and Blackpool who just got promoted into the Premier League made two offers for me, because the first one got rejected.

"My agent told me about it. I went to him just before a meeting we had because we were playing a friendly game in Holland and I said 'look, Brendan, you have to let me go'. And he said 'you're not going anywhere, my friend'.

"I refused to play. He was angry with me. I was quite upset about it. It's one of those opportunities you've been waiting for all your life.

"Anyway, I played the next time, you get on with it and move on, and that season I played almost every game under Brendan and we got promoted.

"When we got promoted, I was out of contract. I had a few clubs like Norwich and Roberto at Wigan in the Premier League offering me contracts. But Swansea weren't making a move, and I thought 'how is this possible?'.

"Brendan was in Tenerife on his holidays and he messaged me saying 'my friend, I need you for next season at Swansea'.

"We agreed a long-term contract. At the end of the day, Brendan showed me he was ruthless to make decisions, but also that he showed me some loyalty that I was important to him."

Rangel's 11-year Swansea career came to an end in 2018 as a 2-1 defeat to Stoke City brought a sorry end to the club's time in the top tier.

He left the Swans having made a total of 374 appearances for the club, scoring 10 goals.