Former Liverpool winger Nabil El Zhar has revealed that he had no hesitation in snubbing a move to Roma to instead head to Anfield.
Liverpool swooped to land the wide-man from French outfit Saint-Etienne in the summer of 2006, and he arrived on Merseyside as a highly rated young talent.
El Zhar, who is currently playing his trade in the Middle East at Qatari side Al Ahli, admits that he was in Italy and ready to put pen to paper to a five-year contract at Roma.
Liverpool though picked up the phone to the Moroccan and his head was quickly turned by the prospect of playing for a side that had won the Champions League just a year previously.
El Zhar told Liverpool's official site: "I can also say right now because I don't think I've said it until now, when I received the call from Liverpool, I was going to sign for AS Roma.
"I was in Italy to sign five years for AS Roma.
"The minute I received the offer from Liverpool, I just went to France to get everything done to fly to Liverpool. I just told my agent that I wanted to go to Liverpool.
"They wanted me and wanted to send me the offer [by] fax.
"I told my mum to get the fax and as soon as she got the fax, I travelled down.
"My agent was not happy because he was not involved in this deal!" he added.
El Zhar struggled to make an impact at Liverpool and was sent out on loan to Greek side PAOK Salonika in 2010.
He was released by the Reds in 2011, five years after his arrival, and headed to Spain to join Levante. El Zhar has also turned out for Las Palmas and Leganes.
