Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy has opened up on his exit from the club after Rafa Benitez joined as manager in 2004.
Murphy was coming off the back of another good season for the Reds having scored eight times in 42 appearances, but was deemed surplus to requirements by Benitez.
Looking back on his departure 22 years later, the 49-year-old has admitted that he was too hasty to leave the club, and has confirmed that he did in fact speak to Everton about a controversial switch to the blue half of Merseyside.
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Murphy says leaving Liverpool is still a huge regret
Murphy was a hugely important member of Gerard Houllier’s treble-winning team in 2000/01, and eventually played almost 250 games for Liverpool.
But with Benitez arriving and taking Xabi Alonso from Spain with him, Murphy was pushed down the pecking order.
Speaking to The Telegraph on Thursday, the pundit said that he took the news hard, and even looked at joining Everton, before ultimately deciding that he just ‘couldn’t do it.’
“Leaving Liverpool is the biggest regret of my life,” he said. “Rafa told me I could go. Initially I wanted to stay and fight for my place, but he said I would not play. I should have stayed. It was a hasty, emotional decision.”
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“I’ve met Rafa since and told him that I appreciate him telling me straight at the time. You don’t want managers who bulls— you. But there was still time for me. I would have played given how short they were of players in Benítez’s first season. But when you have 48 hours before the transfer window shuts, and you think you’re not going to get any minutes, it’s very hard to feel unwanted.
“I was devastated to leave,” Murphy continued. “The first club I met was Everton. I was thinking, ‘Can I really go there?’ I just couldn’t.
“Tottenham were the obvious choice, but Jacques Santini couldn’t speak English and explain where I was going to play, so I moved to Charlton. I had a good time there, but I should never have left Liverpool when I did. I blame myself now, not Rafa, but it took time to get over it.”
Murphy ultimately ended up joining Spurs 18 months later, before a successful five-year spell at Fulham underlined that his Liverpool exit may have been premature. The player-turned-pundit clearly has reservations about the way things ended with the Reds, but at least he didn’t end up burning his bridges and moving to Everton.
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