Former Ghana international Stephen Appiah has revealed that a €200,000 gift enticed him to ignore a move to the Goodison Park about ten years ago.
Appiah, 36, was then at the peak of his career, featuring for Turkey giants Fenerbahçe whom he had joined from Champions League finalists Juventus in 2005.
Speaking on the Legends Night Show on GHOne TV Friday night, the retired midfielder revealed his agent had informed him of an offer from English Premier League regulars Everton.
The highly revered Appiah who had scored one beautiful strike in a 4-0 drubbing of rivals Galatasaray at the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium on April 22, 2006, had moved to inform the club of his intention to accept the offer from the Toffees when the ‘unthinkable’ happened.
“Everton wanted to sign me but our president [Aziz Yıldırım] didn’t want me to go. So when I scored that goal against Galatasaray, I went to his office with my agent to tell him that we have got an offer from Everton and I wanted to go.
“He asked my agent to wait outside and he pulled out his drawer and he gave me 200,000 euros cash. That was 10 years ago,” Appiah revealed.
Stephen Appiah, who captained Ghana to two Fifa World Cup tournaments, played three years for Fenerbahçe. He was recently appointed the technical coordinator for the Black Stars.
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