Seydou Keita has revealed he turned down an offer from Liverpool to return to La Liga with Valencia.
Keita was officially presented as a Valencia player on Monday evening and told the Press conference that negotiations were well underway with the Reds before Los Che made contact.
“When we received the call from Valencia we were in advanced talks with Liverpool,” Keita confirmed.
“But I told my agent we were going with Valencia and I’m very happy we did.”
Keita added that it was his past experience of playing against Valencia that made him want to sign in at the Mestalla.
“When I came here with Sevilla or Barcelona it was always very difficult. We knew we were going to suffer.
“Spain is a great country with a good lifestyle and I have no difficulty with the language. I like the football too.”
Keita had a watching brief as his new club beat his old on Saturday and admitted that when Barca took the lead, he feared the worst.
“When Barcelona scored the first goal I thought ‘let’s see how this goes,’ but it worked out fine.
“The team played very well and deserved to win. Three points at Barca is not easy.”
