Javier Mascherano has revealed how former Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez once came to his apartment and stopped him from leaving the Premier League.
The Reds finalised the signing of Mascherano on loan in February 2007, before paying £18.6m to land him permanently and end his association with third party Media Sports Investments 12 months later.
While he would establish himself as a firm fan-favourite at Anfield, going on to make 139 appearances over three and half years before completing a big-money move to Barcelona in August 2010, the Argentina international had initially flopped in the Premier League after joining West Ham United on loan in August 2006.
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Making just seven appearances during his half-season with the Hammers, starting only five times, he featured just once after late-October as he was repeatedly left out of the West Ham matchday squad. Consequently, with the January transfer window looming, Mascherano was looking to quit the Premier League.
However, the 39-year-old has revealed how Benitez visited his apartment and instead persuaded him to join Liverpool. Playing in a Champions League final just four months later, the Argentine has no regrets.
“When I realised that I wasn’t playing [for West Ham], my idea was to leave in the winter market,” he said on Movistar Deportes Peru. “And I don’t know how Rafa Benítez found out that I was going to leave but he contacted me.
“One day he came to my apartment in London to convince me to sign for Liverpool, because I was already thinking about leaving England, he stopped me.
“In the talk we had, I remember that we were sitting on a sofa and there was a table with pebbles, he began to explain to me with the pebbles where I had to play.
“He was clear and he told me that what I could give to the team, none of those who were already in the squad could. I thought about it for a week and finally the transfer was finalised.
“Luckily I made a great decision, because four months later we were playing in a Champions League final with Milan in Athens.”
