A former Chelsea favourite who won three Premier League titles and the Champions League during his time at Stamford Bridge has revealed how close he came to signing for Liverpool.
Michael Essien is a Blues legend having made 256 appearances for the west London outfit and winning a total of seven trophies during his time in the capital, but the former Ghana international revealed that he once visited Melwood to meet Gerard Houllier when he was plying his trade at Bastia in France.
The 41-year-old instead opted to remain in France before joining Lyon and then Chelsea in the summer of 2005.
Speaking on Instagram Live (via Daily Star), Essien stated: “I had a lot of offers. I was close to signing for Liverpool when Gerard Houllier was their coach. I even went to Melwood to meet the coach.
“We had a talk, and I returned to France, but the offers were still coming from PSG, Marseilleand a few others. But, I told Bastia I didn’t want to move, and they also didn’t want to sell me at that time because they wanted me to stay for another year, which was fine with me.
He added: “I thought it was too early to move to England. That was why I joined Lyon and later moved to Chelsea under Mourinho. Lyon was my favourite team when I went to France because they were winning everything. I told my agent that if Lyon have come into the picture, I’d like to join them.”
Essien’s career could’ve been very different had he opted for a move to Merseyside earlier in his career.
Chances are he would’ve been a part of the Liverpool side that won their fifth European Cup in Istanbul in 2005 and would’ve been bossing the midfield alongside Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso.
The Ghanaian was a tough-tackling deep-lying midfielder and someone who was no stranger to a stunning strike from distance.
He’s adored by Chelsea supporters but how different things could’ve been if he’d completed a switch to L4 instead.
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