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Didier Deschamps has admitted that a pledge he made to Marseille’s president, stopped him from becoming Liverpool manager when he was offered the job in the summer.
The Marseille boss turned down Liverpool before the Reds appointed Roy Hodgson, who would only last six months before being replaced by Kenny Dalglish.
Deschamps said he was tempted by the offer but ultimately decided he could not “drop Marseille in it” so close to the new season having committed to the club and his players.
“I was immensely flattered to receive Liverpool’s offer but there are two principal reasons that made me stay at Marseille,” Deschamps said in The Sun. “I thought about it for more than two seconds, I won’t lie to you. Believe me. It’s not every day Liverpool come knocking on your door.
“It was not an easy decision, I tell you, not easy. But I had given my word here. I had a year left on my contract and committed myself to staying, giving my promise to the president, the fans and the players. There were players who came here for me. Then Liverpool’s offer came two days before we started pre-season at the end of June. As I am a man of my word, I couldn’t do it.
“At the same time we also had the controversy of the French team at the World Cup in South Africa and I couldn’t see myself adding to that by dropping Marseille in it two days before pre-season and saying ‘That’s it, I’m going to Liverpool’.”
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