Former Liverpool midfielder Mohamed Sissoko has explained why he turned down a transfer to Barcelona despite entering into advanced talks over a move.
It seems the ex-Red was perfectly happy with life at Anfield, where he was for some time one of the club’s key players alongside Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso in midfield.
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Sissoko was only at Liverpool for three years but certainly made an impact before moving on to join Juventus, but it seems he had other offers too.
Speaking to FourFourTwo, the 36-year-old claims he got quite far in negotiations over a move to Barcelona, but he decided to turn it down as he simply didn’t want to go anywhere else at that time.
That’s some compliment to Liverpool from Sissoko, who went on to reminisce about his good times on Merseyside, particularly their thrilling FA Cup final victory over West Ham in the 2006 final.
“I rejected Barcelona’s offer. I received their proposal and we were in advanced talks, but I was happy at Liverpool. I didn’t want to go anywhere and decided to stay,” the former Mali international said.
“I had a great time with Liverpool – the best game was the FA Cup final against West Ham. We came from 2-0 down to win and lift the cup.”
At his peak, Sissoko could surely also have been a key player for Barcelona and might’ve had the chance to win numerous major honours if he’d gone to the Nou Camp.
Big names like Javier Mascherano, Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho later ended up leaving LFC for Barca.
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