Former striker Nicolas Anelka has told how he blames Gerard Houllier for his departure from Anfield and how he expected to make his loan move permanent back in the summer of 2002. Instead Houllier decided not to sign the controversial Frenchman and went on to sign one of Liverpool’s most expensive flops, El Hadji Diouf.
Anelka is now on the verge of a move to Portsmouth after moving to Man City and then to Fenerbache. He told French sportspaper L’Equipe:
”I never wanted to leave Liverpool, it is the best club I know. ‘If everything went off as smoothly as I expected, I would have signed for five years at that time, and today, I would be in talks for a contract extension.
”Let’s say when he (Houllier) told me at the last minute he won’t keep me, I found myself in difficulty because I had absolutely not started to talk with any other clubs.
”Finally I joined a club (Manchester City) against my will.”
He added “Gerard Houllier is the main reason for what I am enduring at the moment. If he did not do that to me at Liverpool, I would not have been playing in minor clubs for four years, where I would never think to play for one day.”
While many Liverpool fans would agree Anelka would have been a much better signing instead of Diouf, and a cheaper one at that, it will be interesting to see the reception City fans give Anelka after calling them a minor club!
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