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Midfielder Liverpool signed for £8m says he nearly joined Aston Villa instead

Charles Jones

Tue 11 February 2025 12:15, UK

Aston Villa have had a few transfer near misses over the years.

Indeed, Emmanuel Adebayor nearly signed for Aston Villa at one point, while just last month Joao Felix nearly signed for Villa from Chelsea.

Way back in 2011, Aston Villa missed out on a midfielder who would ultimately end up joining Liverpool.

Indeed, speaking on I Had Trials Once, Charlie Adam has told the story of how he almost signed for Aston Villa six months before his move to Liverpool, claiming that he even went to Gerard Houllier’s house.

The midfielder says he had a great conversation with Houllier, but a deal didn’t come off.

Charlie Adam nearly signed for Aston Villa

Adam spoke about how close he came to joining Aston Villa.

The midfielder says that he spoke to Gerard Houllier about a move, claiming that he even spoke about how he would fit in at Villa tactically.

Ultimately, a deal didn’t happen and Adam would eventually join Liverpool for .

“November, December before the January window, I had an inkling that maybe two or three clubs were going to come for me. I knew that Liverpool wanted me. I went to meet Gerard Houllier in his apartment he was at Aston Villa at the time,” Adam said.

“That was an unbelievable experience.

“Well, I went with my agent to his apartment, started talking to him and he got tactics boards out in the living room and that. He was just saying, this is where I want you to play. This is who’s going to play on the line.

“Agbonlahor is going to play there and this, and this is who we’re going to sign. I want you to be part of it. I mean, Gary McAllister and that.

“It was just two hours of just talking about football and tactics and all. This is how we train. This is what we do.

“Just a genuine nice guy. Do you know what I mean? So I always think about when I met him, it was an unbelievable experience.”

Charlie Adam stats for Blackpool

Adam may not have hit the heights expected of him at Liverpool, but he was a fantastic player on his day.

Indeed, it’s no exaggeration to say that Adam was genuinely one of the Premier League’s better players during his time at Blackpool, and the stats show it.

12 goals and eight assists in a season is a very impressive haul. For some comparison, that’s more goal contributions than Martin Odegaard managed last season.

Adam would leave Liverpool after just one season to join Stoke City, while Aston Villa would sign midfielders such as Jermaine Jenas and Jean Makoun in order to plug their gaps.

Adam regretted leaving Liverpool after just one season, and who knows? Perhaps his career would’ve gone in a totally different direction if he went to Aston Villa instead.