Steven Gerrard never wanted Liverpool to sign me but he'll never be remembered like I will

Steven Gerrard has reignited his spat with former Liverpool teammate El Hadji-Diouf. The pair played together at Anfield for two years following the Senegalese forward's £10m move from Lens in 2002, before he was loaned out to then-Premier League rivals Bolton Wanderers in 2004 before permanently signing for Sam Allardyce's side.

Despite being team-mates, it has since emerged the pair did not get on with reports of them even clashing in the changing rooms during a pre-season match. Now, speaking on , Gerrard has opened up about his playing career and how he felt when Diouf sealed his move to Liverpool.

Asked if he was frustrated at Liverpool's transfer strategy during his time at the club, Gerrard said: "We got recruitment badly wrong at times. Badly wrong at times.

"I'll give you one example. We had the chance to sign Nicolas Anelka or El Hadji Djouf. And we bought El Hadji Diouf on the back of a four to five game period in a World Cup. When we could have bought someone on the back of five to six years. That was the decision.

"I don't know who made the final decision. That one example of us as a club getting it wrong because that is one of the biggest mismatches you could debate. El Hadji Diouf or Nicolas Anelka."

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Ferdinand then called Anelka 'one of the top three hardest' players he'd ever played against. "He came into our sessions, Anelka, coolest man ever," Gerrard added. "Calm, relaxed. You just knew he had that aura and that confidence in himself.

"He was ready to win. He was ready to help Liverpool win more or get closer to you guys or wherever it was. Anelka was coming in and he was a level above.

"He was a level above. And then a decision was made and honestly, it was a complete mismatch. That was one example, I'll give you, where I couldn't believe what was happening."

It's not the first time Diouf and Gerrard have aired their grievances about each other in public. Diouf told the BBC in 2023 that Gerrard was 'a very good player' but never became a legend for his country in the same way the he did for Senegal.

The forward was one of his country's key players during their 2002 run to the World Cup quarter-finals, which included a shock win over France in the tournament's opening game in which he set up the late Papa Bouba Diop for the game's only goal. It is one of the key reasons Diouf believes he will be more fondly remembered in his home country than Gerrard will be for his time playing for England.

"I have no problem with him," Diouf said. "Gerrard is a strong character and I am a strong character.

"'Stevie G' was a very good player, people like him in Liverpool but he never did anything for his country.

"I am Mr. El Hadji Diouf, Mr. Senegal, but he is Mr. Liverpool and Senegal is bigger than Liverpool and he has to know that."

Gerrard previously claimed Diouf "did not care about football and about Liverpool" in his autobiography, while a former Liverpool team-mate also claimed they nearly had to be pulled apart during a half-time team talk.

Speaking in 2020, Florent Sinama Pongolle said: "Half-time of a pre-season game. Fight between Diouf and Gerrard. I was traumatised. Can you imagine the young ones seeing this and thinking that's what professionals are like at that level?

"At half-time, in the dressing room. Stevie G is all like, 'You have to pass, you have to pass' and [Diouf] just loses it. He didn't speak English. His English was rubbish. You know what he did? They hated each other so much.

"Steven Gerrard arrives, he insults Diouf. 'Hey, you f******'. And [Diouf] couldn't answer, so he grabs Gerard Houllier and says, 'Tell him, I'll f*** his mum'. He came in and said, 'I'm not his mate, I'll do him in straight away.'"

Listen to the full Rio Meets Steven Gerrard interview on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

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