Djibril Cisse is poised to return to Anfield this weekend, a year after throwing an unexpected tantrum at the iconic Liverpool venue. The former Reds frontman remains a beloved figure on Merseyside, having represented the club from 2004 to 2006, netting 26 goals in 82 appearances.
Cisse, 44, lifted the Champions League, FA Cup and Super Cup during his two-year spell in England. His son, Prince Cisse, currently plays for the club's U18 team. The 41-cap former France international hasn't been a Liverpool player for 19 years.
Nevertheless, he's subsequently featured in charity fixtures at Anfield, with his next visit to the stadium scheduled for Saturday, when Liverpool's Legends face Borussia Dortmund.
His return to the venue arrives just over a year following his last appearance at Anfield when Liverpool Legends met Chelsea. The match concluded 2-0 in the Reds' favour, but Cisse was left incensed after being withdrawn by Sir Kenny Dalglish.
Club legend John Aldridge, who served as Dalglish's assistant during the encounter, was astonished by Cisse's response. He remarked at the time: "For the first time ever, we had a dispute. Djibril wasn't happy. We all thought he'd pulled up."
Cisse spent just two years at Liverpool, but his exploits in the Champions League final and his strike in the Reds' 2006 FA Cup final triumph over West Ham cemented his cult hero standing.
His transfer to Anfield followed a 26-goal campaign for Auxerre in Ligue 1, and it wasn't solely the Premier League heavyweights who were keen on his signature. The Frenchman has previously disclosed that he came close to joining Barcelona and Real Madrid, but rejected a switch to Spain in favour of Liverpool due to his existing commitment to becoming a Red.
"I nearly signed for Barcelona and Real Madrid in the summer of 2004," Cisse told Poker Strategy. "However, I turned those offers down in favour of a move to Liverpool. That season, I scored 26 goals at Auxerre, so there were a lot of clubs interested in signing me that summer, but I wanted the move to Anfield.
"I had given my word to Liverpool, and I didn't want to go back on that agreement. Of course, it would have been great to line up at the Camp Nou or the Bernabeu alongside the talent there was there at the time, but I had already had some good conversations with the club, and I was happy to sign for Liverpool."
"Liverpool is a great club, and it was one of the best nights of my career to win the Champions League in the way we did in Istanbul the following year, so I'm very happy with the choice I made."
Last year, Cisse revealed that a former Liverpool manager was instrumental in persuading him to relocate to England. He said: "I chose Liverpool because of, first, Gerard Houllier. He made it feel like it was a safe place to go but also a safe place with a massive history."
Last year, Cisse added that a former Liverpool boss played a starring role in convincing him to move to England. He said: "Michael Owen, Robbie Fowler and Ian Rush... they were strikers I watched when I was a kid, so it was an honour and a pleasure for me to walk in their footsteps.
"And I'm a man of my word. I gave my word to Liverpool a year before I actually signed for the club; in my last season with Auxerre, I had already told Liverpool I would join them."
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