Arsenal midfielder Tomas Rosicky has revealed that he almost joined Liverpool ten years ago, during his time with Borussia Dortmund. The Czech star – a self-confessed Reds fan in his youth – has revealed that he was in talks over a move to Anfield before it came to nothing.
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Rosicky, now 34, has been with the Gunners since 2006. He’s made 243 appearances for them in all competitions, although he found chances hard to come by last season – featuring just 24 times. His nine year spell in North London has earned him two FA Cup winners medals, while he also lifted the Community Shield last year.
The former Sparta Prague star, who recently won his 100th cap for his country, was asked about Liverpool during a recent interview with Four Four Two magazine.
Asked whether he had a favourite English team, he said: “Before I came to Arsenal? My first memories of English football would have been Euro 96. I would say my first real heroes would have been the Czech footballers in that year. Patrick Berger was my favourite! He soon came to Liverpool, and that’s how I started watching the Premier League. I also really liked Vladimir Smicer.”
Both Berger and Smicer were important figures for the Reds. The former played almost 200 games for us and was an integral part of our treble winning side in 2001. The latter scored the second of our three goals in Istanbul, during the 2005 Champions League final, when we famously came from three down to beat AC Milan on penalties.
Rosicky continued to explain that he almost joined us at the start of the century: “Just after 2000, when I was at Dortmund, it was a real possibility that I was going to Liverpool,” he said. “I did talk to them quite a bit.”
A story of what might have been…