‘I wanted to join Liverpool – but my wife stopped me and I moved to Chelsea instead’
Former Chek defender Marcel Desailly remains a beloved figure at Stamford Bridge after six successful seasons at Chelsea, but he could’ve been a Liverpool favourites had things gone a little differently
Chelsea legend Marcel Desailly says he nearly joined Liverpool before his wife convinced him not to.
The Frenchman, who made over 200 appearances for the Blues, revealed he had an offer on the table from the Anfield club, but decided to join Chelsea as there were no French-speaking schools in Liverpool for his children to attend.
“I was interested in joining Liverpool in 1998, they made a good proposal,” Desailly said speaking to BoyleSports, who offer the latest Premier League odds. “But the area didn’t have a French school for my kids and the lifestyle was a problem compared to London.
“The lifestyle is probably why I joined Chelsea over Liverpool, yes. My wife made a real statement that she didn’t want me to drive between London and Liverpool while she stayed in London and my four kids did not have a French school.”
Desailly arrived in England as one of the finest defenders on the planet having just won the World Cup with France and after having starred for five years in an AC Milan side that were among the very teams in Europe.
Chelsea were on the up at the time after winning the FA Cup in 1997 and had recruited a host of exotic foreign stars like Gianfranco Zola, Gustavo Poyet, Gianluca Vialli and Desailly’s international team-mate Frank Leboeuf, but Desailly’s introduction kicked them up another gear.
His centre back partnership with Leboeuf was one of the strongest in the division and Chelsea ended up conceding just 30 league goals in Desailly’s debut campaign – second only to Arsenal and 13 fewer than they’d conceded the previous season.
In Desailly’s second year the Blues won the FA Cup again and he was later appointed club captain following Dennis Wise’s departure in 2001.
Chelsea were on the precipice of financial collapse in 2003 and needed to finish in the top four in order to raise enough cash to stay afloat without having to sell several of their top players. All they needed to do was avoid defeat to Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on the final day of the season and they were there. It was quite literally make or break.
Desailly, who could so easily have been lining up for the away team had there been any French-speaking schools in Merseyside, netted Chelsea’s equaliser, his final goal for the club, in a 2-1 win which secured Champions League football for the empty-pocketed Blues – without which, some reckon, Abramovich wouldn’t have considered the club for purchase.