Jerzy Dudek has revealed how he was once so angry with manager Rafael Benitez, that he nearly punched the Spaniard.
Istanbul's penalty shootout hero wanted to leave the club after their famous Champions League victory in 2005 as the Reds had signed Pepe Reina who would be the team's first-choice goalkeeper going forward.
However, there were some issues here. Dudek told magazine FourFourTwo: "Pepe [Reina] was a great guy, but Rafa [Benitez] had signed a new goalkeeper at a moment when I felt like I was at the peak of my career.
"I told Rafa that the World Cup was on the horizon and I needed to be playing football. Köln were interested, but a few days before the window closed, they called and said, ‘Why is Rafa not even talking to us?’ I was surprised – I thought everything had been agreed."
The former Red continues: "The next day, I stormed up to him after training. He said, ‘They only offered a loan deal, and you’re too important for us. They want to give us £800,000, but what if Reina gets an injury? I can’t put £800,000 in a suitcase and put it between the goalposts.’"
"Then I had this crazy thought – ‘I think I’ll just punch him in the face’. This evil whisper in my head was telling me that if I hit Rafa, they’d let me go to Köln."
Of course, Dudek did not go through with the action. He eventually left Anfield after two more seasons to join Real Madrid in 2007 - he did not have much luck there as a starter either though!
