The £10m transfer that delayed Liverpool’s Premier League glory until 2020

Former England midfielder Danny Murphy has claimed that Liverpool could have ended their wait for the Premier League title before 2020 if they had signed Nicolas Anelka in the summer of 2002 instead of El Hadji Diouf.

Anelka had joined the Reds on a loan deal from PSG in January 2002 and played a massive role for the club as they pushed for the Premier League title, featuring in 22 games and chipping in five goals and three assists.

Despite his performances, Liverpool didn’t sanction a permanent move for him as he returned to his parent club PSG, at the end of his loan term. 

Gerard Houllier, who was the club’s manager decided to sign Diouf and it proved to be a masterstroke mistake as the Senegalese ended up being a Villain at Anfield.

The former Senegal international struggled on the pitch as he managed just six goals in 80 appearances and his behaviour off the pitch wasn’t any better.

One of Diouf’s most infamous incidents was when he spat at Celtic fans during Liverpool’s UEFA Super Cup game against the Scottish giants.

Speaking to talkSPORT, Murphy believed that the Merseyside-based club could have won the Premier League if the club had signed Anelka instead of Diouf in the summer of 2002.

“He had a game at Anfield against Newcastle [in 2002] and he absolutely ran the game and tore them apart – I can’t remember who he was against but they wouldn’t want to watch it back!”

“You know when people are coming off the pitch, it was the first time that people like MO (Michael Owen) Stevie (Gerrard) were going ‘oh my god’.

“Then for some reason, Gerard Houllier didn’t sign him permanently at the end of his loan, he signed El Hadji Diouf instead.

“I think if we’d have signed Anelka that summer we could have won the league the next year.”

Eventually, Anelka joined Manchester City, making 105 appearances, notching 45 goals and six assists for the club.

Diouf left Liverpool in 2005 for Bolton Wanderers though he had spent the previous year on loan at the club.

The Reds finally won the Premier League in the 2019/2020 season under former manager Jurgen Klopp, some years after Anelka and Diouf had both retired.