Rickie Lambert has revealed he almost swapped @LFC for @AVFCOfficial on transfer deadline dayhttp://t.co/54WjPCgVVW pic.twitter.com/5wFuPJKGZF

— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) February 18, 2015

Under januarifönstrets sista dag handlade inte särskilt mycket om eventuella nyförvärv till Liverpool. Istället var LFC-fokuset snarare på Rickie Lamberts vara eller icke vara i klubben. Aston Villa budade som bekant fina £4,5 miljoner för veterananfallaren, som dock valde att stanna i LFC. Nu har Lambert berättat om varför han tackade nej till Aston Villa: “I wasn’t aware of any interest until deadline day”, sa engelsmannen till The Liverpool Echo.

Lambert fortsatte: “I got a phone call from the gaffer about 4pm saying Aston Villa had come in. He said he didn’t want me to go but basically offered me the chance if I wanted to play football, which is fair enough. I spoke to my agent, I spoke to my wife, I spoke to Aston Villa and it was close. It was very close. It was touch and go. We agreed everything.

“The deal was agreed, but in the end, there just wasn’t enough time to say ‘yes’ – to make a decision in the space of four or five hours for the next two-and-a-half-years. Not just for me, but for my family as well. It was something I just couldn’t do. It was too short notice. It was too big of a decision to make in the short amount of time I had.

“It was late. It was about half nine (when I made my mind up). I would have had to have gone and done the medical then. I’d done that once before when Bristol Rovers came in for me on deadline day. Back then I was driving down in the car and negotiating the contract. That would have had to have been the same again. But at the last minute I said no.

“It was nothing negative towards Aston Villa, it’s a great club. I just didn’t think it was right for me to leave here just six months into my Liverpool career. I didn’t want to go.

“It was something that I would have probably looked back at a few years down the line and regretted if I had moved too early. It was very close but I just couldn’t do it. It’s hard sometimes when you aren’t playing but I’m at the club I love. I’m not willing to give that up easily.”

Lamberts beslut om att stanna i Liverpool ska ha kommit som ett glädjebesked för Brendan Rodgers, trots att denne alltså gav anfallaren chansen att lämna klubben: “Brendan was made up,” sa Lambert.

“We had been speaking throughout the day and I was asking him for his help. I spoke to everyone who is close to me. In the end it came down to the amount of time I had to think about it and the thought of leaving Liverpool after six months.

“The gaffer was offering me the chance to go and play football and I respected that. He had said ‘it’s up to you’. He wanted me here but couldn’t guarantee me starting time.

“The team is playing well at the minute. I’m not the type to make a fuss anyway. I’ll keep my head down and work hard in training. I’m not going to be knocking on his door demanding to play.”