Jermaine Pennant has revealed he turned down an opportunity to join Everton earlier in his career due to the fact he did not want to rule out the chance of playing for Liverpool.
The Nottingham-born winger was the subject of interest from the Blues during David Moyes’ first tenure at Goodison Park, but after a discussion with his agent he decided against a move to Merseyside in 2005.
Pennant would later go on to join Birmingham City from Arsenal before heading to Anfield in the summer of 2006 where he scored three goals and registered 17 assists in 81 appearances for the Reds (across all competitions).
“Everton came in, I think the following season, I think Everton came in, David Moyes put in a bid. I’m not sure if Arsenal accepted it,” Pennant said on Undr The Cosh Podcast (via The Boot Room).
“I think that they might have. But then my agent said to me a lot, because I’ve always been a Liverpool fan since I was a little kid. So I said, if you play for Everton, you’re never going to play for Liverpool, you know that, right?
“I was like, oh, well, you know, this is first-team football now. This is guaranteed first-team football. And then I said, all right, I don’t want to accept the deal. I turned it down.”
Pennant didn’t have the greatest of spells at Anfield but by representing the Reds he achieved a boyhood dream.
Joining Everton earlier in his career wouldn’t have completely ruled him out of a move to Liverpool, but it certainly would’ve made such a transfer very unlikely.
The last player to transfer directly from Everton to Liverpool was Abel Xavier in 2002 but Conor Coady is one player still playing the game who has represented both clubs.
Current Everton ace Jarrad Branthwaite was linked with a move across Stanley Park last year – with some reports even claiming Liverpool submitted two bids for the defender.
It’s always interesting to hear such stories like Pennant’s when players retire. He certainly chose to represented the right team on Merseyside!
