Anders Limpar may have only spent three years at Goodison Park, but the Swedish icon has revealed to the official Everton website that his time on Merseyside frustrated a Liverpool icon.
The 59-cap former international had made his name in England at Arsenal but when the time come to leave North London, Limpar opted to join Mike Walker’s side at Goodison Park, which happened to anger Kenny Dalglish, who wanted to bring the midfielder to Blackburn.
Had the Rovers boss succeeded, Limpar would have missed the chance to help guide the Toffees up the table and win the 1995 FA Cup, something the current Everton side will have to aim for next year following this term’s dismal record.
Altogether, the attacking midfielder recorded five goals in 72 games with Everton, and none of that would have been possible without Walker, who the retired winger hails as the reason he joined.
“When I was leaving Arsenal, I was going to Manchester to talk to City,” said Limpar. “On the way, Mike Walker phoned my agent.
“And Kenny Dalglish called to say he would love to have me at Blackburn. My agent said, ‘We can’t come to Blackburn, we have to go to Manchester and Everton’. Kenny was a little bit angry about that.
“I signed for Everton because I liked Mike Walker’s way of talking football.”
Limpar’s career was not full of highlight moments, though, as the former international later joined Djurgardens, the arch-rival to his former side AIK.
“I did the most stupid thing you could do as a footballer, I went to Djurgardens,” Limpar noted. “It was a horrible, horrible story.
“I had police protection for three months. It was hell for me. AIK thought I was too old. I wanted to stay in Stockholm, so I signed for Djurgardens. I shouldn’t have done it.”