Former Chelsea midfielder Essien reveals how Liverpool approached him

Former Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien has revealed he snubbed Liverpool in 2002 to remain in Ligue 1. Essien disclosed former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier was keenly interested in him and invited him to Melwood. Essien rejected offers from PSG and Marseille in that period to spend his third year at Bastia. "I had a lot of offers. I was close to signing for Liverpool when Gerard Houllier was their coach,'' Essien said in an Instagram Live chat. ''I even went to Melwood to meet the coach. We had a talk and I returned to France but the offers were still coming. ''PSG, Olympique Marseille et al, but I told Bastia I don't want to move and they also didn't want to sell me at that time because they wanted me to stay for another year which was fine with me because I also didn't want to leave the club so I stayed for another season, that's my third year with the club. 'Olympique Lyon joined the three aforementioned clubs to enquire about me but I thought it was too early to move to England." Essien joined Lyon for a reported €7.8 million in the summer of 2003. Source: Goal Join us on Telegram!