Former Everton legend made shocking statement ahead of clash between Liverpool

Gary Lineker has opened up on his decision to snub Liverpool to join Everton ahead of this week’s final Merseyside derby between the sides at Goodison Park.

During his brief tenure at the club, Lineker netted an impressive 40 goals in 57 matches, including strikes in all three Merseyside derby games he played—a record that remains unbeaten by any Everton player four decades later.

Despite Lineker’s extraordinary goal tally, Everton ended the season empty-handed, narrowly missing out on a league and cup double to Liverpool. After just one season at Goodison Park, then-manager Howard Kendall sanctioned Lineker’s transfer to Barcelona.

As Everton’s storied ground gets set to host Liverpool one last time, the narrative could have been quite different had Lineker joined the Reds instead.

“Manchester United, Liverpool and Everton were all in for me,” Lineker disclosed to the Everton matchday programme, reflecting on his switch to Goodison.

“Obviously they were dealing through my agents at that point, because I’d let my contract run out at Leicester, although in those days at the end of your contract you weren’t on a free. The transfer fee was decided by a tribunal.

“But I was aware of the interest of the three clubs and it basically came down to whether I would sign for Manchester United, Liverpool or Everton. At that stage Manchester United wasn’t obviously the club it became under Alex Ferguson and with Liverpool and Everton, it was a tough choice.

“But I figured Liverpool already had Ian Rush and I thought I was quite similar in playing style and might find it difficult to break in there. Howard Kendall told me that Andy Gray was leaving and obviously I knew that he would be a tough act to follow, because he was loved by the Evertonians and quite rightly so. But in the end, meeting Howard made my mind up really.

• “I knew about his playing career and then there was his personality – he was very engaging, very passionate, lots of fun and he knew how to speak to players and get the best out of them and make you want to play for him. I certainly don’t regret that decision. It was a magnificent year, it was just a shame it was only a year.”