Ludovic Giuly has now shared an insight into how close he came to leaving FC Barcelona and signing for Liverpool.
The 2005/06 Champions League final saw Barca taking on an Arsenal team littered with stars, including Thierry Henry and a young Cesc Fabregas.
Giuly played out wide in that match and has now revealed that, after helping Barcelona secure a 2-1 win, Liverpool wanted to sign him.
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Liverpool wanted to sign Ludovic Giuly from FC Barcelona
The Frenchman spent three years on the books of the Spanish outfit, which included playing alongside Lionel Messi.
The pair featured together on 26 occasions for Barcelona, but it was actually Messi’s rise that led to Giuly questioning his future.
Speaking to Kampo via YouTube this week, he suggested he was ‘obliged to leave’ Barca after Messi burst onto the scene, and Liverpool even offered him the chance to secure a move the day after the 2006 Champions League final.
He said: “But imagine Messi coming through. After that, I’m obliged to leave. I can’t stay. How do I do it?
“He played in the 2006 World Cup with Argentina. You see, I’m telling you, it’s not the same because I don’t have the same status. Even if Leo comes to me and says ‘I’ll work things out with the club.’ I’m like, ‘How do we do this? Do we play every other game, or do you want me to leave and go to another club?’
“Because I know, at that point, I have Liverpool who are chasing me, they call me the day after the (Champions League) final, they tell me, ‘I want you.’ I had two years left in Barcelona. How am I supposed to make decisions?
“I have less emotional attachment to Liverpool than to Barcelona.”
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“It’s not the same career path, maybe my status changes and I say: no, I don’t want to stay at Barcelona, I want to go to Liverpool. Because I have a new challenge. They offered me three years.
“I’d won everything, I’m done. The Euros are coming. I know it’s going to be difficult for me. ‘Good luck.’ And that’s it. Then I go and do something at Liverpool, and it’s not the same thing.”
But in the end, Giuly never ended up leaving for Liverpool in 2006, instead securing a move to AS Roma a year later.
He went on to have spells with the likes of PSG and Monaco before eventually calling time on his playing career in 2007.
The winger ended his career with 170 goals and 54 assists in 754 matches at club level, but never managed to show what he could do in England.
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