'I was close to leaving Liverpool for Everton – I stayed and won Champions League'

Traore's goal-line clearance from Shevchenko kept the scores level

Liverpool cult icon Djimi Traore came close to joining Everton and missing out on winning the Champions League

As the former Mali international celebrates his 45th birthday, many Reds fans will be wishing him well.

While he is not revered in the same way as Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso, Traore more than played his part in the unforgettable 2005 Champions League final triumph

Traore endured a first-half to forget as he gave away the free-kick for Milan's opening goal and was nowhere to be seen when Hernan Crespo scored a brace

Yet, he became a Reds hero as he made a vital goal-line clearance from Andriy Shevchenko when the score was locked at 3-3

When he looks back on his career, he will remember that all of the above was close to not happening as, at one stage, Traore was going to swap Anfield for Goodison Park.

Traore said:

"I was very close to signing for Everton. Liverpool accepted a bid and I was going to the training ground to pack my stuff.

"Rafa convinced me to come into the office and we spent one hour discussing it. Even after one hour I said, ‘No, I don’t want to stay, the club accepted a transfer.’

“He said to me, 'If you come back to me in January and I don't play you, I'll let you go, whatever you want.' I said, 'OK, deal.' And he played me.

"And then when we won the Champions League final, on the pitch, that was the first thing he said to me.

“He found me, first he slapped me on the cheek – because he liked to slap people on the cheek – and he said, 'You see, if you went to Everton, you wouldn't have won the Champions League.'"

Traore also won the FA Cup, the Europa League, and two League Cups during his seven-year Liverpool career

But his contribution to Reds folklore is his aforementioned clearance in the Champions League final.

That moment was close to not happening as Benitez initially wanted to substitute Traore at half-time but was forced to keep him on the pitch as Steve Finnan suffered an injury.

Looking back on that chain of events,

Traore added: "Maybe it was destiny.

“I was poor in the first half and I tried to help the team and contribute. Maybe I helped the team to win that night with that save on the line.

"The spirit of the team was very high. That group had been in difficult situations, sometimes during the game and some games, and the experience we had together [helped].

"Because we were a very strong group together and we had been playing together for many years, some of the players on the squad.

“I think that helped us to come back and overcome that game. But Steven Gerrard makes the difference of course."