Steven Gerrard reveals disbelief over Liverpool’s £13m transfer decision | OneFootball

Steven Gerrard has admitted his disbelief over Liverpool’s infamous decision to sign El Hadji Diouf instead of Nicolas Anelka back in 2002.

It is a move that remains one of the club’s biggest transfer regrets. Nicolas Anelka spent a season on loan with the Reds, impressing Steven Gerrard and his teammates.

However, the permanent £13 million move fell through after the club turned their attention to the World Cup-performing Senegalese forward.

Steven Gerrard criticises Liverpool for not signing Nicolas Anelka

(Photo by AMA/Corbis via Getty Images)

He came on the latest episode of Rio Ferdinand Presents Podcast, discussing various topics.

Gerrard opened up on Trent Alexander-Arnold’s controversial move to Madrid. He also discussed the club’s decision to not sign Anelka, describing it as a classic case of the club getting recruitment badly wrong, opting for a striker based on a short burst of international form rather than proven, long-term pedigree.

Gerrard recalled: “We got recruitment badly wrong at times. I’ll give you one example, we had the chance to sign Nicolas Anelka or El Hadj Diouf, and we bought Diouf on the back of a four or five game World Cup instead of someone off the back of five or six years.”

Gerrard pointed to Anelka’s aura during training as evidence of his quality: “Anelka came into our training sessions, was the coolest man ever, calm, relaxed, you just knew he had aura and confidence in himself, he was ready to win.

“Anelka was coming in and he was a level above everyone else, but then that decision was made and I couldn’t believe what was happening.”

The decision would go on to haunt Liverpool, as Diouf failed to live up to expectations both on and off the pitch, while Anelka enjoyed a glittering Premier League career elsewhere.

Nicolas Anelka’s stunning Premier League career across top clubs

Nicolas Anelka’s career in the Premier League speaks for itself. After bursting onto the scene with Arsenal, where he scored 23 goals in 65 league appearances, he went on to represent Liverpool (loan), Manchester City, and Chelsea, among others.

At Manchester City, Anelka netted 37 goals in 89 appearances, establishing himself as one of the league’s most consistent forwards.

During his time at Chelsea, he scored 38 goals in 125 games, winning both the Premier League title (2009–10) and the Golden Boot (2008–09).

Across his Premier League career, Anelka scored 125 goals in 364 games, ranking among the top French scorers in English football history, a tally that underlines just how costly Liverpool’s 2002 decision proved to be.