Brad Friedel admits he was tempted to rejoin Liverpool, but feels he would have been signing for 'retirement' if he had returned to Anfield.
Veteran keeper happy he made the decision to join Tottenham
Brad Friedel admits he was tempted to rejoin Liverpool last summer, but feels he would have been signing for 'retirement' if he had returned to Anfield.
The 40-year-old opted to leave Aston Villa at the end of last season and eventually plumped for a move to Tottenham Hotspur, where he has continued to prove one of the Premier League's most reliable keepers.
However, Friedel also had the option of signing for Liverpool for a second time after previously making 25 league appearances in three years for the Reds before leaving for Blackburn Rovers in 2000.
Friedel, though, did not want to be the back-up to Pepe Reina and is confident he made the right decision in moving to White Hart Lane.
Best opportunity
"I had four offers in the summer," Friedel told the
Mail on Sunday. "I didn't choose the one with the highest financial reward, I chose what I thought was the best squad and the best opportunity."
When asked if he was tempted to rejoin Liverpool, he replied: "Absolutely. Kenny (Dalglish) was very much above board, said that he could offer me the world, offer me a lot of things, but he couldn't offer me first-team football enough.
"I had a tough decision but after I had met the (Tottenham) chairman, after I had met the gaffer, and you really see the squad and infrastructure at the club...it was clear that the ambition was to get bigger, better.
"You can never tell someone you're going to come in and play in every game because you have to keep your form going and we have a lot of good keepers at this club.
"(But) I never signed a contract in my career to be a No 2. I felt that if I had chosen Liverpool, I was sort of signing (for) my retirement."
