Let’s make one thing clear: El Hadji Diouf isn’t exactly your everyday kind of footballer.
Invited on RMC Sport’s Footissime show, the 37-year-old was asked if he regretted wearing a shirt in his career, and after a bit of thought, he admitted it would probably be Liverpool’s.
Known for his spats with Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, the 37-year-old explained his reasoning behind that choice, and it involves the Reds’ non-local arch enemies over at Old Trafford.
He said: “The shirt I regret wearing most? I’d say Liverpool, because if I had to redo [his career], I would go to Manchester United or to Barcelona because they both wanted me at the time too”.
The retired Senegalese forward spent three years at Anfield after joining the Reds from Lens back in 2002, during which he made 80 appearances for the club, but only managed to score six goals and pick up five assists.
Eventually, he went on loan to Bolton, where he then signed permanently, before moving onto Sunderland, Blackburn, Rangers, Leeds and finally Sabah in Malaysia.
Spending £13.5m on the youngster at the time, there might be some regret from both parties in the deal, as, while the talent was there, Diouf never fulfilled it at Liverpool.
Would he have at Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson, who was known to deal quite well with strong characters during his time in charge at Old Trafford? We’ll never know, but perhaps things could have been very different for him if he’d picked a move to the Red Devils back in 2002.
