Former Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler has revealed that he did feel forced out of the club and suggested the Reds made attempts to sell him behind the scenes.
The 45-year-old spent 17 years with the Merseyside giants after coming through the youth ranks, scoring 171 goals in 330 appearances at senior level before returning in 2005 for a second stint.
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Having won a handful of trophies during his time at Anfield too, Fowler will no doubt hold great memories of being a Liverpool player, but he has revealed that he felt forced out of the club before leaving to join Leeds United in 2001.
“I did feel forced out, I did fall out with managers… they accepted a bid from Aston Villa and Chelsea tried to sign me, I remember speaking to Gianluca Vialli and I wasn’t interested in leaving…but I knew behind the scenes they were trying to sell me,” he said in the BT Sport feature below.
We’ll never know how different things would have been if he had stayed, but ultimately both parties had their reasons to move on and there are certainly fonder memories for them to remember during their spells together rather than focusing on the negative one.