I was desperate to join Liverpool from PSG – the transfer falling through is my biggest regret

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I loved them and I think it was reciprocal.“Looking back, I am proud to have worn the jersey of this legendary club and to have known this stadium and these amazing fans.”The 47-year-old played for 12 different teams during his senior career. Of course a permanent move was discussed from the first day I joined the club.“If you look at the first time they introduced me in the press conference, I said if I could sign now, I would, but Gerard Houllier wanted a loan because he was not sure.

Later on, Gerard told me face-to-face he’d sign me permanently.“In the middle of April we reached an agreement about the salary, which had stalled things a little, but I was expecting to sign my contract when the league was over but there was no news from PSG and no news from Liverpool.“I heard on the news that Gerard Houllier was after another player so that’s how I knew they were not going to sign me!”Former Liverpool assistant manager Phil Thompson, who was serving as interim manager when Anelka joined the club, due to Houllier's recovery from a heart operation, said the reason the club decided against signing the Frenchman was that his representatives had tried to engineer a move back to Arsenal.“I heard about this Arsenal story,” Anelka said. “If it was true, why didn’t I sign for Arsenal when Liverpool announced in the press they weren’t going to sign me?“And even if it was true, it’s a normal situation.

It’s like I’m saying I don’t wanna sign for a club because they are speaking with another striker. This is exactly what I want and what I like from people.“I know if Phil was the manager I would have signed and stayed many years but fate chose otherwise and I had to take another path to find a big club.”Anelka went on to play for Chelsea, Bolton and West Brom in England and the likes of Fenerbahce and Juventus across Europe.