For those who don’t follow Mexican or French football that often, André-Pierre Gignac might be the guy you remember as the one who could have won his country the 2016 Euros.
Either way, the striker, who has left a good impression wherever he’s been, is now king of the world at Tigres in Mexico, but he could have easily ended up at Liverpool.
This is what the player revealed on Tuesday in an interview on RMC Sport, where he was asked about his transfer from Toulouse to Marseille back in 2010.
Choosing the French club over a move to Anfield, the now 35-year-old explained why he ended up snubbing the Premier League, as well as Valencia, who sent him some ham to try and convince him to sign.
He said: “I was born in Martigues, 40km from Marseille. All my childhood, it was Marseille. My family support OM. My dream… What you need to know, I had two contracts in my hands. It was Marseille or Liverpool in 2010. I turned down Valencia just before. They’d sent me a plane with some good ham inside. I promise you, it makes you want to. They knew that with a bit of jamon iberico, they could do it, but I refused.
“It was at the time of Unai Emery, with Jérémy Mathieu. He came and explained his tactics to me. I turned them down. Just after that, Christophe Cano (his agent) comes and tells me: ‘André, you have Liverpool or Marseille’. I replied: ‘You can rip up Liverpool’s contract, we’re going to Marseille’. That’s it”.
As for whether he regrets that decision, the player replied that has never been the case as he realised his dream of playing for his childhood club.
During his time at Marseille, where he was managed by Marcelo Bielsa for a season, the striker scored 77 goals and assisted another 13 in 188 appearances, which remains a far cry from his 148 goals in 254 games at Tigres.
