Ghana great André Ayew: ‘l was quite close to joining Liverpool’

The 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup winner has revealed that he was very close to linking up with the Merseyside giants, but a lack of agreement over the contractual terms between both parties derailed the proposed transfer move

l was quite close to joining Premier League titan Liverpool from Ligue 1 giants Olympique Marseille during the summer transfer window of 2015, according to Ghana great André Ayew.

The 36-year-old prolific wing-forward, who became an outstanding figure at the Stade Vélodrome after graduating from their academy system, says he was desperate to play in the English top-flight when the Anfield campaigners came calling for his services.

However, with such a transfer move failing to materialise, the former West Ham United man would go on to accomplish his dream move to the Premier League by joining up with top-flight rivals Swansea.

Speaking in an interview, the Black Stars cult figure revealed that, Europe’s top guns including; Liverpool, Spurs, lnter and Roma were all gunning for his signature before committing his future to the Liberty Stadium outfit in 2015.

Ayew told The Obi One Podcast: ”It [transfer move to Liverpool] was quite close. I wanted to go there, but we couldn’t agree on certain things. Liverpool, Spurs, Roma and Inter were interested, but I wanted to play in the Premier League. Then Swansea came in, and everything fell into place. I was really happy at Swansea. The fans were special, and Huw Jenkins was very fair to me.”

His moves to Swansea City paid huge dividends after making a total of 152 appearances across two spells in all competitions between 2015-2016 and 2018-2021 football seasons, with 48 goals to his name.

The second most-capped player in the history of the Ghana national football team (the Black Stars) with 120 games, is currently unattached after last playing Hfor Dutch outfit NAC Breda.

Ayew is currently boasting of an enviable curriculum vitae (CV) following his productive spells with Marseille, FC Lorient, Swansea, West Ham Utd, Fenerbahce, Nottingham Forest, Le Havre AC and NAC Breda across Europe at club level.