West Ham midfielder Mohamed Diame admits it's a dream to play for Liverpool one day and that he was close to signing for the Anfield club before arriving at West Ham.
The Senegalese international has recently spoken of his desire to play for a bigger club than the Hammers and has no spoken of two opportunities he had to do just that, including a move to London rivals Arsenal that was close to happening last summer.
And the 26-year-old admits a move to Liverpool was a dream and that it was only the departure of Kenny Dalglish that scuppered the deal.
He told the Daily Star: "In my head I was already in Liverpool.
"It was next, I told everyone that I was there. It was as if one of my greatest wishes - to wear the Liverpool shirt - had been accomplished.
"One day my agent and I went to the training centre to see Kenny Dalglish, who was the coach. I found myself amongst photos of Gerrard and company, all these great players. I was proud of myself.
"Unfortunately, Dalglish was fired and all negotiations stopped.
"I told myself that God wanted it that way and that is not a reason for me to stop work. It will happen one day."
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But Diame went on to explain that he was close to signing for Arsenal just 12 months ago, but stayed at West Ham where he believes not enough was done to improve in the Hammers' 10th place finish.
"There were proposals last summer .I was thinking of going to Arsenal but it didn't happen so I stayed at West Ham, because I felt good here," he added.
"Plus, after this season we had had I thought the club would buy some better players. But it was a very bad start and we made the mistake of not recruiting.
"We went through the season with almost the same players, which is never good because the players think they already know who will be wearing the shirt.
"Also, people didn't necessarily give 100 per cent on the field, that's what got us in trouble."
Diame has made 74 appearances in all competitions for the Hammers since joining on a free from Wigan two summers ago, scoring seven goals.
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