Everton have rarely signed players from Liverpool in the past, with the previous player to cross the divide being Gary Ablett in 1992 – but one former England star admits he had the choice to break that duck.
Everton signed a raft of players from bitter rivals Liverpool in the 1980s and 1990s, with Gary Ablett, Peter Beardsley and Kevin Sheedy in particular having strong spells at the club.
Meanwhile, the last player to move directly from Everton to Liverpool was Abel Xavier, just two years after Nick Barmby left for the highest fee agreed between the two clubs in history at £6million.
However, that could have been broken by Danny Murphy, with the former England star admitting he almost joined the Toffees from their local rivals upon his Premier League exit from Anfield.
Danny Murphy of Liverpool lays the ball off
Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images
Danny Murphy turned Everton down amid Liverpool exit in 2004
Danny Murphy had broken into the England team by this point, notching nine caps for the Three Lions prior to his move to Charlton.
But having fallen out of favour for the central midfield positions, Murphy admitted that he turned Everton down due to the rivalry, and the Toffees’ corresponding league position when they’d finished 17th under David Moyes.
Speaking to talkSPORT, Murphy said: “Well, when I left Liverpool it was a difficult one.
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“I spoke to Charlton, Tottenham, and Everton and before I spoke to any of them, I thought Tottenham was the obvious choice.
“Not because Everton wasn’t as big a club.
“It was more because of the Liverpool-Everton thing, and Everton had been struggling down near the bottom.”
Instead, Murphy joined Charlton, where he spent 18 months before a big move to Tottenham Hotspur.
Failed Danny Murphy transfer proved to be a huge bonus for Everton
In hindsight, it was a blessing in disguise that Murphy didn’t join Everton.
Instead, Tim Cahill was signed as the goalscoring midfielder from Millwall, and he was even nominated for the Ballon d’Or at the end of his second season on Merseyside, earning praise from Gary Lineker.
Playing in front of former England interim boss Lee Carsley and Thomas Gravesen – before the Dane departed and was replaced by none other than Mikel Arteta – the Toffees were incredible under David Moyes.
Final league position Points Goal difference
3. Manchester United 77 -1
4. Everton 61 +11
5. Liverpool 58 +5
6. Bolton Wanderers 58 +7
7. Middlesbrough 55 +8
2004-05 Premier League table
Cahill’s 11 Premier League goals saw him conjure up a better tally than Murphy ever did in a single season, and with Leon Osman picking up goals from that ‘goalscoring midfielder’ position, it led Everton to the Champions League.
Murphy faded after his move to Tottenham, whilst Arteta went on to achieve over 200 appearances for the Toffees before a move to Arsenal. It seemed to be the right call that Murphy didn’t cross Stanley Park.