Liverpool hero Jerzy Dudek has revealed he was once close to joining Arsenal, with Arsene Wenger a big fan of his.
The Polish goalkeeper has today sat down for an interview with Przeglad Sportowy to discuss his time at Liverpool and career in general.
He spent six years at Liverpool after a €7.4m move from Feyenoord in August 2001, going on to make 186 appearances for the club in that time before joining Real Madrid in 2007.
His time at Anfield was a highly successful one for him personally as he won the FA Cup, League Cup, Community Shield, UEFA Super Cup and, of course, the Champions League in 2005.
The latter was his shining moment as a Liverpool player as he starred in the shootout, saving three AC Milan penalties in a moment that is still considered one of the greatest in the history of the competition.
It seems, though, things could have been very different for him as he was once close to joining Arsenal under Arsene Wenger.
“I got the call from London at the end of the 2000/01 season,” he explained.
“We (he and Wenger) had a great conversation. I came back to Rotterdam enthused by what I saw at Highbury. The problem was that my joy was also seen by the Feyenoord chairman and he decided to jack up the price.
“Wenger is famous for looking twice at every pound he spends. He wanted me in the team, but he couldn’t pay the £10 million the Rotterdam club suddenly demanded.
“The Frenchman called me later and apologised that the transfer had not materialised. He said that he had never spent that kind of money on a field player in his life, so even less would he pay that much for a goalkeeper.”
Dudek would join Liverpool a few weeks later after those negotiations with Arsenal, for a figure that was £2m less than what the Gunners had been offering.
That naturally led to some confusion at Highbury at the time, where Wenger and co couldn’t understand the decision that had been made in Feyenoord.
And Dudek admits the French manager made a call to ask what had gone on, although he never held it against the player personally.
“Of course he was (surprised),” he added.
“The other day he called Jan de Zeeuw and asked him what this was all about. Why was his offer rejected and Liverpool’s – although worse for Feyenoord – accepted.
“No, he didn’t have a grudge against us. He was upset about the whole situation, but he knew it was not our fault. To this day I still have a very good relationship with Wenger.”
