Jerzy Dudek reveals 'furious' phone call from Arsene Wenger after Liverpool move

Jerzy Dudek has lifted the lid on a ‘furious’ phone call he received from Arsene Wenger after he joined Liverpool instead of Arsenal almost two decades ago.

The goalkeeper was desperate for a new challenge after spending five years in the Netherlands with Feyenoord and both Premier League clubs made their interest known in the summer of 2001.

Wenger, looking to provide competition for an ageing David Seaman, invited Dudek for a tour of Highbury and Arsenal’s training ground before making a £7.5million offer for the shot-stopper.

But Dudek ended up completing a move to Merseyside for an even smaller fee later that summer and an enraged Wenger responded by giving the Poland international a piece of his mind.

‘Arsene Wenger called me, and he was furious,’ Dudek told Liverpool Echo.

‘He was nearly yelling. I’d joined Liverpool, not Arsenal. After five years with Feyenoord, I was ready for a fresh challenge.

‘That summer, I’d spent a couple of days in London and Wenger showed me Highbury and the training ground. It was a beautiful visit – we agreed terms and shook hands.

‘I went back to Rotterdam, then Wenger phoned me. “I’m really sorry,” he said. “Feyenoord want £10m and we don’t pay that amount of money, not even for a striker”. The deal was off, and I was angry.

‘Then three matches into the new season, Liverpool came in and I moved to Anfield – for £5.75m. “What the hell is going on?” Wenger asked me when he called. “I offered £7.5m and Feyenoord said no!” I said, ‘I’m sorry – I had nothing to do with it’.

‘Joining Liverpool was meant to be.’

Dudek would go on to cement his place in the hearts of Liverpool fans with an outrageous double save to deny Andriy Shevchenko at the end of extra-time in the side’s Champions League final victory over AC Milan in 2005.

His iconic ‘spaghetti legs’ tactic – inspired by Bruce Grobbelaar – in the resulting penalty shootout, in which he denied Shevchenko and Andrea Pirlo’s spot-kicks, has also gone down in Liverpool folklore.

The Pole also won an FA Cup, a League Cup and a Community Shield during his six years on Merseyside before joining Real Madrid in 2007.

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