Rickie Lambert has admitted he turned down moves to Crystal Palace and Aston Villa during his time at Liverpool, speaking on the Straight From The Off podcast.
It’s fair to say a dream move quickly turned into something resembling a nightmare for this boyhood Liverpool fanatic.
A prolific goalscorer at Southampton, Lambert jumped at the chance to join a Reds side coached by Brendan Rodgers in summer 2014.
But it quickly became apparent a striker who enjoyed talismanic status on the South Coast was to be little more than a squad player on Merseyside.
Lambert fell out of favour under Rodgers and, just six months after his arrival, a rapid-fire departure was already on the cards. Not that the 11-cap England international was in any rush to give up on his Anfield dreams.
Lambert explains: “Brendan pulled me and said: ‘(Alan) Pardew has come in for you.’ He was the Crystal Palace manager at the time. This was December, and he said: ‘I think you should go in January because I can’t promise you any game time here.’
“I didn’t really think about it. I said: ‘I’ve left Southampton to join Liverpool and you want me to join Crystal Palace after five months? Why would I do that?’
“I basically told him no – and I didn’t play then.
“He changed the system, played (Raheem) Sterling up top and I literally didn’t touch the ball for about three-and-a-half months. That was a really tough time.
“Aston Villa came in at the end of January and I was very close to joining, but I always thought: ‘I’ll turn this round.’ But with not playing, my fitness was getting worse and worse, and I couldn’t affect anything.”
Lambert would make just seven Premier League starts in Liverpool colours before joining West Bromwich Albion in summer 2015.
And, unfortunately, the stunning form that made him one of England’s most feared goalscorers at Southampton was never seen again.
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